


Dynamics

by HeadJams



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-26
Updated: 2013-04-08
Packaged: 2017-11-19 14:31:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/574275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadJams/pseuds/HeadJams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An incredibly shy and suppressed beta, Castiel Novak, meets surprisingly friendly alpha, Dean Winchester, and of course he makes Castiel want to be himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Castiel Novak wasn't particularly different from other guys in his year. He was average height, fairly slender in build, but unlike any other guy the same age, he was taking suppressants for heat. The pills were usually daily for when you were in heat – which happened twice a year – but Castiel was on a monthly pill. The monthly pill was more effective at suppressing heat, without making you bitchy and aggressive, yet more expensive, no problem for his family though, rich, and willing to do anything to avoid the shame of having a beta for a son.

Male betas weren't unheard of, but they were about as common as female alphas, and equally as rejected by society. Although there were some countries in Europe that welcomed them, even had altered some laws and made new ones pertaining to what would be a unique situation otherwise.

So of course he was beyond horrified when, in the middle of an Ancient History lesson, there was a deep throb just behind his naval. Without thinking, he grabbed his things and bolted from the classroom.

Dean bobbed his head and sang along to the Led Zeppelin song on his ancient cassette-tape Walkman as he picked up litter from the college grounds, it wasn't a glamorous job, but this and his job at the garage was enough to keep Sammy in books for school, and keep them both clothed and fed, with just enough left to afford the daily suppressants when needed.

Once it was full he tied up the trash bag and added it to the cart. He’d changed the bags in all the trashcans on campus, picked up the majority of the litter and fixed the air-con in the science lab with the hot lab-tech chic watching his every move and fanning herself with papers. She’d given him her number with the promise that she’d just have to find some way to repay him. As he pushed the cart round back – one foot on the cart and pushing him and the cart along with the other, using it as if it was some over-large scooter – to the dumpsters, and started to pile the bags into the blue one, a scent – brought in on the rare wind this excruciatingly hot summer – caught his nose.

It was a beta, only just going into heat, and when Dean sniffed the air again he couldn't catch a whiff of alpha anywhere, so he decided it was safe to investigate. He crept round to the back of the building via the alley where the dumpsters were, and stopped when he caught sight of a guy sitting back against the wall. He had dark hair and blue eyes; he was visibly sweating and trying to pull the knot of his tie loose, but only making it tighter in the process.

‘A sweater-vest and tie in this whether, really dude?’ was Dean’s first thought until he remembered what he could smell and he pitied the poor guy. Not only was he a male beta but he’d clearly not taken his suppressant in time and was now suffering the early throws of heat. “You alright buddy?” he asked, crouching next to him. In his heat, the guy could probably smell the alpha in him, and it should make him do exactly the opposite of make him flinch away and cower in fear, but he did just that, begging him ‘please don’t’ and ‘I don’t want to’. Dean had never really thought about all the shit male betas had to go through in their heat, especially if they encountered an alpha, because they’d happily let themselves get raped they were so high on heat; there were stories about it in the papers all the time if you read cover-to-cover, any cases virtually thrown out of court because there was no proof the beta-male wasn't begging for it, and Dean could only guess that that was what put the fear of God into this poor guy. “Oh hey no,” he said in a gentler voice than last time “I’m not gonna touch you, I was just checking you were okay.”

“Y-You’re not?” he raised his head a little, and it looked as if they were about the same age. But he didn't look anything like the looks-like-a-girl stereotype of a beta-male.

“O’course not, I have awesome self-control” he joked, although it was true, and it drew a weak half-laugh from the guy “So what’s your name?”

“Castiel” he replied, straining a little and scrunching his eyes shut.

“Well Castiel, I’m gonna clear off and leave you to your thing,” he said, knowing that the presence of an alpha wouldn't help him any “but you should probably go home before an alpha with less self-control gets a whiff of you.”

“Is it that strong?” Castiel asked weakly, flushing redder from embarrassment this time, looking ashamed.

“ You've got no idea have you? ...” Dean found it hard to believe that he didn't know anything about how strong pheromone scents could get, but he decided that that was a conversation for later if they ever got to have it. “You really should get outta here then, go home.”

“Can’t…” he uttered, just holding himself back from taking a sniff of Dean, so Dean backed out of the guy’s space a little bit more. “… They don’t wanna know.”

Dean thought for a moment “Have you uh- got anyone you can go to?” he asked, they both knew what he really meant, or at least he hoped they both knew. Castiel shook his head again, getting worse by the second. Dean knew he should leave him, but he couldn't leave the poor guy to suffer, and to possibly allot worse.

“You’ll have to touch yourself” said Dean, reluctantly, recalling his talk through a door with Sam during his younger brother’s first heat.

Instantly the guy started stammering “But- but I've never-“

“ You've never…” Dean took a tight grip on his own thigh, digging his nails, and taking a deep breath, strangely turned on by such a virginal guy “You’ll kinda have to, or it’ll get worse” he said, managing to keep the aroused husk from his voice.

Timidly, Castiel shook his head, curling his knees up to his chest. He couldn't… he just couldn't.

“There’s gotta be something I can do, someone I can call?” he said, despite the two looking exactly nothing in common aside from the sense of innocence they radiated, this kid reminded him too much of Sammy to just leave him here, like he’s sure he’d do with anyone else.

“Katie…” he shuddered out “…my phone” Castiel remembered something Kate had told him after his first heat, about why girls grouped together all the time. Despite the lack of detail of what he wanted him to do, Dean clicked on and searched the kid’s bag for a phone, when he found it he scrolled through it to find a ‘Katie’. All of the contacts were full names, and alphabetized by last name so he struggled to find ‘McCarthy, Katherine’ which was the closest guess. He pressed call.

Within seconds there was an answer.

“Cas, honey, what is it? Are you okay?” answered a soft, concerned, woman’s voice. Clearly he didn't call her often.

“Hi – um – actually this is Dean Winchester.”

“Winchester?” she cut in.

“Yeah, I've – uh – I've got… Cas” he thinks that’s what she called him “here with me, and he uh…” Dean wasn't sure how to phrase it “he needs you to come pick him up.”

She was either smart, or cared too much for ‘Cas’ to mess around asking him to explain what was wrong. “I’ll be there in five” she said “tell him to hang in there” Dean told her where to find them, she repeated it back to him and the line went dead.

When she hung up, Dean put Cas’ phone back in his bag and passed on Kate’s message. Cas gave what he supposed could have been a weak smile as his tightened his grip on his knees.

In exactly three minutes Kate was jogging up the alley way towards him. “Dean Winchester?” she asked, slightly breathless, and he nodded, thumbing behind him and she rushed straight past to find Cas. He’d left Cas’ side before his self-control collapsed, and favored staying round the corner from him – whistling ‘Stairway to Heaven’ so Cas knew he was still here. A few moments later, with their arms round one another, Cas and Kate rounded the corner and rushed right past him, Kate throwing him a quick ‘thank you’.

As they left, Cas cast his eyes back and gave him a look that put a knot in Dean’s stomach.


	2. Chapter 2

Cas lay between Kate's knees, head resting shamelessly against her ever-comfortable chest as they lounged on the sofa in the attic-conversation/Kate and Gabe's rent-free apartment, watching daytime TV. Times like this, when no one else was in the house, when it was just him and Kate, when he didn't have to be ashamed to be a beta-male, he was tempted to switch to the daily, as-required heat-suppressants so he could just hang out with her for the week, unbothered by the throws of heat when in the company of a fellow beta.

He would never be able to even begin to guess how Gabriel of all people landed himself such a wonderful woman, and no one would be able to probably, not without extensive scientific research. But Cas was so glad he did. Kate was the best friend he could have asked for.

Kate and Gabriel had been together for eight years now, ever since half-way through their first year of high school and Gabriel's months of endless perusing and exhausting his best pick-up tactics had paid off. Now they shared the converted attic of the unnecessarily huge Novak house. Kate had been around during Cas' first heat when he was thirteen, making him a late-starter, but still mortified about being a beta-male and Kate had calmed him down.

That was when she'd first explained that when beta's grouped together their urges in heat were staved off, which is why girls almost always moved round in groups, and beta-males naturally favored the company of girls. She'd promised that they could always hang out when he went into heat; despite her promise, the idea had died with Cas' admittance to his father that he wasn't an alpha, and he'd been forced into the stronger monthly pills. Only Gabriel knew how utterly furious she was with Mr Novak for being so homophobic.

His father's complete denial and rejection about having a beta for a son had led Cas to completely force it out of himself, even tried dating one or two girls from his class in an attempt to train himself into being an alpha. But no matter how hard he tried he was still, fundamentally, a beta, and girls couldn't help but treat him like their best friend. So maybe for one month out of the year he forgot to take his pill? So what? It didn't matter if nobody found out. 'Nobody' however, never included Kate, Gabriel, or his other brother Balthazar, because they didn't seem to mind.

Kate stroked his hair absent-mindedly as he inhaled the pheromones that clung to her skin, neither of them caring that his face was in her cleavage. She smelt of Gabriel, she always smelt of Gabriel, but it still didn't cover up the heavenly scent she had on her skin.

Suddenly, from nowhere, Castiel plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been playing on his mind all day now "Does getting knotted hurt?"

Kate flinched back, causing him to lift is head from the comfort of her breasts and look at her "Where the hell did that come from?" she asked, sounding a little panicked if the small quiver in 'hell' was anything to go by. Castiel had asked her hundreds of questions about everything, ranging from sex to 'that book she was reading the other week' so why knotting seemed like a sensitive subject he didn't know, and got the feeling that it was too personal to ask.

He shrugged and rested his head again "I was just curious, because today I…"

"It's natural for beta's to want a knot in heat" she soothed, a little calmer than before, settling back down with him.

"It's not just that…" he sighed "but that guy… I wanted him to watch while I – while I touched myself"

He didn't hear so much as he felt her chuckle vibrate through her chest "I think you wanted him to do a little more than that sweetie" she said, not really teasing him, jut encouraging him not to lie to himself. He buried his face in her chest as he mumbled 'maybe'. "Did you want him to fuck you or did you just want to be fucked?" she asked, he stayed still in silent contemplation, when he didn't answer she carried on "Okay, think about it this way. Did you picture a cock pounding into your ass, or did you picture him, all hot a sweaty, groaning your name as you rode him like a horny little-"

"The second one." He cut in quickly, before she could go into even more detail, because she was teasing him a little, not like that was new however.

"Aww" she cooed, pinching his cheek lightly "I reckon you should give it a go then"

Cas pushed himself up quite quickly "What?"

She shrugged casually "ask him out"

He slowly recoiled to the other end of the sofa "But I –I don't even know-"

"Dean Winchester" she told him "I see his kid brother in the library all the time, he's got nothing but the highest praises for his big brother" Kate was a Librarian at the local library, and sometimes it seemed like she knew everyone Cas could name.

Cas gritted his teeth in thought "I dunno…" he mumbled

Kate nudged him with her foot "Give it a go" she pushed, "And if he says no you're too good for him anyway" they both smiled and laughed a little

"Only if you talk to Gabe" he bargained, because he knew that the two of them – though clearly very close, and still intimate with one another – needed to talk about whatever had happened between them, because it was beginning to affect the people around them too.

For a moment, Kate froze, before nodding her head I agreement "Alright then, but you better damn well try your hardest"

Cas took a deep breath when he finally saw the janitor from yesterday, he was mopping the floor outside the guys' bathrooms, and walked straight up to him. His heat-suppressant had kicked in now, so he wasn't in trouble of a repeat of yesterday.

Dean sniffed and looked up as Cas approached, and he took off his headphones. But before he could speak, Cas rattled off into a well-rehearsed speech. "I just wanted to say – uh – thanks for yesterday and if you could, you know, keep it to yourself though? But still, thanks… allot for… that. And – uh – I was – um – wondering if you'd like to go for a – uh – burger or something? Later that is, not now, because I have classes and you're probably busy"

"Uh – no problem, and of course not, I wouldn't, and – uh – I'm actually busy later… sorry"

Cas didn't relax at all despite his promise that he wouldn't tell anyone. "No that's – uh – that's fine, of course, whatever. I'll – I'll see you whenever then" he said as casually as he could, turning on his heel to leave before he was stopped by a firm hand. He turned back to Dean.

"I'm free tomorrow" he offered, making Castiel's insides flutter a little, "Meet me by the front gate at say… 8:30?" Cas just nodded, unable to form words or suppress the goofy half-grin he had on his face.

The next day, the moment his shift ended, he raced home to shower and change for what he wouldn't admit was a date. After his shower, he stood in front of the mirror wearing his best jeans and boots, holding up one shirt, then the other, unable to make up his mind. Eventually he caught sight of Sammy in the mirror, he was watching him from the doorway. When the kid had turned fifteen, he'd had one hell of a growth spurt, suddenly going from short, and a little bit chubby, to tall and wiry, so he constantly had an under-fed look about him.

"What?" he asked bluntly, and Sam just tilted his head and continued to observe him.

"Where're you going?" he asked cautiously, his voice didn't squeak hilariously any more so Dean didn't have much to quip at him with, but Dean had sure as hell taken the piss when it had.

"Out" Dean answered vaguely, going back to deciding on which shirt to wear.

"Go with the dark blue one." said Sam casually, and without admitting the kid was probably right, Dean put away the green shirt and pulled on the dark blue t-shirt "Out where?" he pushed as Dean started on his hair.

"Just out."

Sammy wouldn't give up that easily, although the stoic look on his face made him seem less nosy, and just curious. "With a girl?"

Now, Dean couldn't outright lie to his brother, but he could withhold information.

"Or is it a guy?" Sam asked, stepping into the room to put Dean's hair right after the onslaught of his slightly shaking hands. Damn his brother's perceptiveness.

Dean let Sammy fix his hair, trying to phrase it right. He was far from ashamed to find himself attracted to this guy, but he wasn't sure if he could really call it a date, because Cas was trying to keep his beta-male side a secret.

Sammy chuckled "Just gimmie a heads-up if you're bringing him back."

"Oh dude no, I don't think..." Dean had said it without realizing it, but when he'd been on dates before (most of them being with girls, rarely more than once) he'd damn well planned to get them into bed. "I don't think he's like that" he finished "he's... real smart, doesn't look like he'd mess around"

"He cute?"

"Oh hell yeah" he gave a kind of dazed grin and he thought about those blue eyes, and good god did he want to see them blown open with arousal, his pale cheeks flushed and hear his voice completely sex-wrecked.

Sam raised his eyebrows, it might be a guy he was going on a date with this time, but even with no guarantee of sex Dean was still eager to go.

Castiel hadn't expected his father to be home so early; usually he was back late and gone before anyone else had woken up. So even though he'd been ready for an hour, and he was meeting Dean in fifteen minuets, his father was sat in his chair, reading the paper, and Cas had no way of getting out the house unseen. So instead he stared down from his window, trying to see any way he could climb down.

That was exactly when Balthazar decided to appear at his shoulder, scaring Cas half to death with a simple 'boo'. Cas punched him in the shoulder for his troubles. "What the hell're you doing?" he snapped.

"I could ask you the same thing" Balthazar responded coolly, in his put-on British accent.

"None of your business" said Cas, closing the window carefully.

Balthazar grinned knowingly "Come on, it's easy climbing down from my window" he said with a wink.

Kate glanced over her shoulder at Mr Novak, then to her left at Gabriel, who was drying the dishes she was washing from dinner. "Sweetie, I wanna talk to you about something" she whispered.

Gabriel glanced over at her, recognizing the look on her face, and quickly at his father "We'll do it tomorrow, when Dad's at-"

"No Gabe. Now." she fiddled with the dish-cloth for a moment, watching the dirty water circle down the drain, then added "...or I'll just have to leave" Gabriel didn't say anything as he stopped packing the plates away into the cupboard for a moment. "I might not go into heat any more but... God knows I still want you" she whispered, but not standing any closer. He didn't say anything as he finished putting the plates away either, he just took her hand, and led her up the stairs. "Come on" he said gently.

Kate followed after him obediently. When they reached the stairs that led up to the attic, she heard one of the bedroom doors click shut behind them, but didn't care because she could smell a change on him that – ever since they'd first started dating – she come to associate with him getting possessive, and she knew that meant she was getting fucked into the mattress.

She was almost right.

The moment they got into their room, Gabriel grabbed her by her hips, lifted her off the ground and shoved her up against the wall. "You're mine" he growled in her ear "Like hell you're going to leave me" his fingertips pressed hard enough against her hips to leave bruises as he nipped at her ear, making her give the smallest of whimpers. He kissed her furiously, hardly stopping for long enough to even let her breathe.

To an outsider this would seem like cause for a call to the police on a count of domestic abuse, but it had taken years for Kate to get Gabe to just 'let go' and give in to his primal instincts when they were alone together.

He was in heat - the alpha form of it anyways, it only happened with a long-term mate. Of course Kate knew this, what kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn't? But he always kept his distance from her during his heats; he didn't want to hurt her, and even suppressants couldn't keep you off a willing beta, especially one with a mouth that was the embodiment of lustful sin.

Kate could feel his hard-on pressed against her thigh. But unbuttoning his jeans seemed to snap him out of the testosterone fueled need to finally mark her and he pushed her hand away. "Stop" he said, gritting his teeth "I can't..."

He was so on-edge Kate didn't have to say a single word to get her possessive, greedy alpha-male back. She just dropped to her knees, slowly undid his zipper, before nuzzling her nose against his crotch, mouthing through his shorts against his cock, inhaling his heady scent and looking up at him with her best beta-eyes.

Castiel smiled as Dean continued his story "-then she turned to him and said 'how could you even think about interrupting us like that?' and he just goes 'oh, I'm sorry...' then leaves!" Cas shook with laughter

"So even-though he'd just caught you with his girlfriend, he apologized?" confirmed Cas

"Yup!" grinned Dean, Sammy had rolled his eyes when he'd told him, and the guys at the shop were more interested in what he'd been doing with the girl before-hand, not that neither of them hadn't found it just as funny, but being able to make Cas laugh like this gave him a warm feeling, not to mention his smile just about stopped his heart.

"So you've been with a couple of girls in the past then?" asked Cas innocently, pulling his eyes down to his meal, occasionally flicking up to look at Dean

Dean leaned back on the bench seat of the alcove they had "A couple yeah, one or two guys too, but... mainly one night stands... I think they were all one night stands actually..."

"Oh..." Castiel's heart sunk in his chest

Instantly Dean realized Cas had taken it the wrong way "Not that you are, of course not," he said quickly "You..." he caught Castiel's eye as the thinner man raised his head, and Dean was so sure that he was going to go into cardiac arrest some point this evening, the things Cas was making his heart do. "You're..." he tried again, but the words were gone, and his mouth had gone dry, still grasping for words, he watched Cas reach out across the table and trail his fingertips along the hard line of his jaw, leaving a soft tingling in its wake.


	3. Chapter 3

Cas jumped out of his skin when the door to the diner practically crashed open when what looked like a good third of the College Soccer team burst in, bantering and jeering with each other as they placed their orders. Much to Dean's distaste it made Cas pull back into himself, but a moment later he was recognized.

"Cas-ti-el!" roared one of the team, saying his name like it was being chanted from the bleachers. And Castiel changed completely.

He jumped out of his seat, an almost wolfish grin on his face as he greeted the team with manly hugs, high-fives and punches to the arm "Ha-ha! Guys, what're you doing here?"

"Getting something to eat obviously" laughed one of them, earning laughter from the rest, even from Cas, although it wasn't anything like the way he'd been laughing with Dean moments ago.

"Hey Cas, who's your bitch?" asked one of them, giving Dean a cheeky wink. Dean was about to rise to it, but Castiel handled it.

"Whoa, guys, he's my friend! Can't a guy have a meal with his friend?" he protested, the out-of-character grin still on his face.

"Not you Cas, you BEAST!"

Dean tried to suppress laughter as the rowdy group started up a chant of 'beast-beast-beast-beast-beast'. After this went about twice-over, one of the guys stopped them, he was by far the friendliest-looking of the group, the least rowdy, but still that wasn't saying much. The guy put and arm round Castiel's shoulders and turned them to face Dean.

"Buddy" he said to Dean "Play your cards right and you are in for one hell of a night, because this guy" he patted Cas firmly on the chest "has a helluva lotta stamina, best damn striker I've ever played with."

He waited for some kind of response from Dean, and for a moment Cas panicked, he had no idea what he wanted to happen right now. He didn't want to put Dean out there as a beta (which he wasn't) but he wasn't ready to be outed yet, and he wasn't sure weather to breathe a sigh of relief or laugh at what Dean said next.

"Oh, is that right darlin'?" he purred in a southern accent, reclining back in his seat in the most submissive way he could muster, making the team cat-call and laugh.

"Oh hell yeah" one of the guys continued "When we're all dead from suicide runs he's still goin'!" he boasted, typical wing-man style "He'd not even breakin' a sweat after thirty!"

Dean continued to talk in his southern drawl, pulling himself out his seat in a slightly feminine, very sultry, way, he grabbed hold of Cas by his second-best casual tie "We best not waste time then if you're gonna go all night honey" he purred, and proceeded to lead Cas from the diner by his tie as if it was some kind of dog collar. The team erupted into laughter, cheers and wolf-whistles behind them.

When they got to Dean's car – which was by far one of the coolest cars Cas had ever seen – in the small car park round the back of the diner, Dean let go of Castiel's tie. Castiel didn't even notice it was crooked as he begged Dean's forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry about that," Cas rushed, he still couldn't believe Dean had pretended to be a beta for him "I didn't expect to see them here and I would have-"

"Whoa hey," Dean held up his hands "You're not comfortable coming out to your friends yet, that's cool, but there's only so many times I'm willing to do that in public" he joked, although completely serious. He took a step or two closer to Cas and straightened his tie with gentle tugs and twists "Although..." he thought for a moment, straightening out the guys clothes, just for the excuse to touch him "I'm willing to try bottoming if that's what turns you on."

Dean strolled round to the drivers side and got in the car, leaving Cas weak-kneed and plagued with images of an incredibly hot, incredibly submissive Dean, open-mouthed and on his knees, openly begging to be split open on Castiel's cock. As he drifted off into his fantasy, Dean called at him impatiently to get in the car.

When Cas finally managed to get the door open and drop into the passenger seat, Dean started the engine and set off towards the outskirts of town. He knew exactly where he wanted to take him now.

After a few minuets completely devoid of Castiel's nervous babble, Dean glanced over at his slightly glazed-over expression for a moment before speaking "Did I break you?" he wondered if that suggestion had maybe been way too much for the guy that didn't even freaking masturbate.

Cas wet his lips a little "No – um, ahem – I'm fine."

A dirty smirk crept onto Dean's face, knowing exactly was Cas was thinking about "You picturing it?" he asked teasingly.

No matter how hard he tried, at that moment Cas couldn't fully over-power the flirtatious, 'fuck-me-now' part of his brain so instead of denying it...

"Yeah I am" he said, as Dean pulled to a stop at the end of a dirt road that was in the middle of completely open fields, far enough away from the main road that there was no noise. Dean cut the engine, lay his arm across the back of the seat and leaned towards Cas.

"What're you picturing?" he asked, reaching his hand out to Castiel's and twisting their fingers together, then he smirked as Cas fumbled for words. He quickly wondered if he could ever get this guy talking dirty to him. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice to a deep whisper "Are you picturing me, bent over at the waist, displaying my ass to you? Holding myself open for you? Showing you my sweet little pucker? Preparing myself with my fingers, already dripping wet for you? Moaning your name and begging for your cock?" he asked, slowly slipping a hand up to Castiel's waist, feeling him shiver beautifully.

"Not... not exactly that no..." he managed to breathe against Dean's jaw, practically buzzing at the almost-skin-on-skin contact.

"Shame..." sighed Dean, the tip of his nose just brushing the hinge of Castiel's jaw as he rose up a little to whisper right into Castiel's ear "Because that's how I'm picturing you"

Castiel let out a small whine of a whimper. Instantly flushing red at the pitiful sound, but Dean let out a very low, almost silent growl of arousal, slowly crowding Cas into the far end of the seat, just waiting for any sign that it was too much for the guy. He certainly wasn't expecting Cas to drop his head back and expose his neck to him in one of the most submissive – yet fully clothed – actions, his nimble fingers carding through Dean's hair at the back of his head as the older man couldn't help but take the offer in front of him, pressing an open-mouthed kiss against his neck, deeply inhaling the pheromones radiating from the spot just below his ear, feeling the vibrations of Cas' moans and whimpers against his lips.

When Dean broke away Castiel whined at the loss of his body pressed against him, but Dean, slightly out of breath, insisted that they got out the car.

"As lovely as this is, and as freakin'... heavenly as the noises you make are, this isn't the reason I brought you out here" he reached behind Cas to open his door and herd him out of it

"Are you sure?" said Cas, just as breathless, dragging himself out of the car, only to lean against it as he took in lungfuls of fresh air in an attempt to clear his head. "'Cause I don't really mind"

"I am sure, I actually wanted you to see this" Dean smiled took Castiel's hand, twining their fingers together without a thought, and pulled him round to the front of the car. He easily vaulted the picket fence surrounding the field, and all but lifted Cas over after him "You don't mind lying on the ground do you?" asked Dean. Normally Cas would have very much minded the grass stains he'd get from doing so, but he just didn't seem to care, so he shook his head dumbly. "Good" he said, stopping and abruptly collapsing back on the longish grass, patting the space next to him when Cas didn't immediately follow. "Come on" he coaxed.

Cas took off his jacket and set it down on the ground, lying down far more carefully than Dean had. He very deliberately left a good few inches between himself and Dean, but Dean noticed and quickly closed the gap, throwing his arm out so Cas could rest his head on his bicep.

When Cas settled down with Dean's firm muscles as a pillow he was in no hurry to complain about, and finally focused on the sky Dean was staring at, he sighed out a 'wow...'. They were far enough away from their little town to have a night-sky free of too much light pollution, because not only could Castiel match up entire constellations, but he could also just about see clusters of far-away galaxies. Castiel almost instantly started rattling off all the constellations, pointing them out and telling their story.

Dean only paid half a mind to what Castiel was saying, which was far more attention than he was giving the sky. Dean, who wasn't even looking at the sky, but rather at Castiel's profile, taking in his long eyelashes that famed piercing blue eyes that shone when he spoke so passionately, the slope of his nose, down into the full curve of his slightly dry-looking lips that he was inwardly beating himself up about having not kissed yet.

Dean brought up a hand to slide along Castiel's jaw, partially in search of invisible-stubble, but mostly another excuse to touch him; the touch only made Cas falter in Ursa Major's story. He rolled onto his side to face Cas – with his arm still pinned under the younger man it was incredibly uncomfortable – and continue trailing his hands over the soft angles of his face, running his thumb over his lips and down the dimple of his chin, then back up the other side of his jaw. Cas closed his eyes and let a soft sigh escape his lips. When Dean sifted his weight again, Cas lifted his head so Dean could free his arm and re-position himself, which was the first thing that made Cas stumble into silence.

"Has anyone ever told you you're gorgeous?" he asked, half leaning over the slightly smaller man, thumb stroking idly at his jaw. "Especially when you get so... know-it-all about something?"

"...Only my grandmother..." Cas tried to make it seem like that compliment wasn't the first one that actually seemed genuine. "...Sorry... would you like me to stop?"

"By all means keep talking" he said, resting his forehead against his "I could listen to you all night..." He wasn't lying, he really could listen to him all night, if it meant he was with him at all. He'd only ever brought one girl here before – Lisa, on their one-year anniversary – he'd been convinced that she'd be his mate for life... she wasn't, ended up she was pregnant with someone else's kid; it took Dean months to get over her. So whatever had possessed him to bring Cas here on their 'first date' as he supposed it now was, clearly had allot of faith in any kind of relationship they might have.

Steadily, Dean dipped his head forward so his nose was pushed softly against Castiel's, their lips only just brushing, hot breaths rushing between them. His heavy-lidded eyes watched Castiel's long eyelashes, feeling them flutter against his skin when his eyes flickered, but didn't open. He was aware that Castiel's hand had come to rest just above his hip, thumb stroking absently at skin from where his shirt had hitched up a little. The touch felt unnaturally hot, but firm against him, holding him, not pushing away.

It was Castiel who shifted up to give the slightest of kisses, timid and tractable, before Dean pressed their lips more firmly together. The grip on his waist tightened, and pulled him a little closer, as their lips moved with one another, making Dean's heart race all over again.


	4. Chapter 4

Cas perched on the hood of the car as he watched Dean struggle with himself.

"Sorry..." he breathed out heavily, facing away from Cas, leaning against the fence "I'm not... I can usually..."

"Control yourself?" suggested Cas, Dean had been perfectly fine (as perfectly fine as a man can be when he's making out 'the hottest piece of ass he's ever seen', to put it in Dean's words... well, the one's he'd used while he was a little bit high off Castiel's heat) for a few minuets until he'd started dry-humping Cas and growling obscene things in his ear. Cas had panicked, head-butted him, and run back to the car. The pain of it must have shocked Dean back to normality for long enough to make him realize what he'd just done "It's alright, I'm the one that's in full-blown heat. Regardless of the suppressants, if you go sniffing at my... neck like you did it's going to affect you... like this" he gestured vaguely towards Dean. Although Kate had explained this all to him, the things you shouldn't let an Alpha do and why, Cas couldn't bring himself to repeat any of it. Dean took one final deep breath before turning back to Cas.

His pupils were less dilated now, and he didn't look like he wanted to devour Cas any more... well maybe he did, but only a little bit. He perched on the hood of the car, keeping a good foot of distance between them "Yeah I suppose that makes sense" he said, still breathing a little heavily.

"Maybe you should just take me home..." suggested Cas "Before uh..."

Dean nodded in reluctant agreement "Yeah, I guess that's best..."

The car journey home was silent, both of them to embarrassed to make conversation like they had before. Cas was, still, humiliatingly semi-hard after Dean's promise to make him cum over and over until he was shooting blanks, and then knot him and 'breed you up good... fill you with my pups'; he didn't think Dean had noticed though.

At least, it was complete silence until they got closer to where Cas had said he lived, Dean realized that he had no idea exactly where that road was, and had to ask Cas for directions.

They pulled up round the corner from the house, so Cas could go down the alley at the back of the house, in through the back gate and climb in through Balthazar's window. He turned to Dean before he got out the car, looking directly at where Dean's left hand clung lazily to the steering wheel.

"I really enjoyed tonight" he forced out, feeling like a love-struck little girl "I -uh- hope we could... try this again? Maybe next week when being around me isn't... uncomfortable?"

Dean abruptly grinned, relieved "Yeah, that sounds good." he hesitated a moment "Walk you to your... window?"

"Yeah, alright, I could probably use a leg up anyway" he'd already explained to Dean about what he'd gone through to actually get out the house.

When they stopped outside the back gate to listen for anyone that might be in the garden, even if it was nearly ten at night, and even though it sounded like the garden was clear, they could hear yelling inside.

"We got the right house?" asked Dean cautiously and quietly, seeing the down-trodden and tired look flicker onto Castiel's face.

"Yeah" he sighed, slumping against the wall "Sounds like my uncles, Uriel and Zachariah, and my father of course... oh, and Raphael, my other uncle"

"Big family" was all Dean dared to comment as they waited out the argument. After a while, after a few rises and falls in volume, there was silence, and Dean was about to suggest he goes in now, but Cas shook his head.

"It just means that Gabe's involved now, he hardly ever raises his voice, but it just means that this'll take longer." just as Cas settled against the wall for a long stay, Dean had an idea.

"You could crash on our couch tonight, if you don't wanna..." he gestured towards the house, just as something smashed inside.

Cas sighed "That'd be nice" he agreed, although he did have a vague feeling that it wasn't the safest decision he'd ever made.

Kate lay in bed, facing the window and listening to the silence that had fallen downstairs. Behind her the bedroom door opened, then the mattress shifted with the added weight of Gabriel sitting down on the edge of the bed. Slowly, Kate rolled over to face him. He wasn't looking at her, he just sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands, un-moving and silent.

Wordlessly, she rested her head between his shoulders and wrapped her arms round his chest, she felt his hand rest over hers and hold her there tightly.

Kate hummed softly and tunelessly against his back, rubbing her thumb against his chest. After so many arguments in this family, she'd come to learn that there wasn't much at all - if anything - she could say or do to cheer him up, but she'd found that staying close to him helped. Although, the way she was sat at the moment was incredibly uncomfortable, so she wrapped her legs round his hips too, resting her feet in his lap. His other hand fell to her feet and picked at the nail varnish on her toes.

They didn't move for a while after that, but eventually Gabriel lifted her hand of his chest and pressed a kiss to it. "I'm gonna take a shower" he muttered

"Want me to join you?" she asked, she wasn't expecting sex tonight, she'd known from the minute Raphael knocked on the front door that Gabriel would just be too rattled for anything by the time they left.

"No thanks" he decided, after a moment of silence, and gently untangled himself from her as she lay back down.

The argument had started with the usual topic, their father.

The old man just seemed to disappear off the face of the earth sometimes and even though he always came back perfectly fine, his four sons - Uriel, Raphael, Zachariah and Gabriel's father - were constantly at odds about him, about weather to put him in a home or just leave him be. And it usually branched into people like Anna and Castiel. Anna, driven mad by the 'Novak family curse' and put into a very discrete, private mental asylum halfway across the country when she turned eighteen, and before then she was locked away 24/7 by her own father - Raphael. And of course Castiel, the only beta-male in the entire family, and that was of the very few beta's that were born into the family at all.

Raphael and Zachariah wanted to put Castiel into what they called 'Military School', in all technical ways of speaking it was, but everyone knew that it was just a correctional facility, most of the brochures quoted some kind of line about 'Drilling out inappropriate behavior'. As obstinate as Castiel's father was, he wouldn't have one of his son's carted off where he couldn't keep an eye on them. Some Novak men liked their problems out of sight and out of mind, others liked to have full control of any development those 'problems' made.

When Gabriel finally got into bed, he curled around her from behind, sweeping her hair carefully out the way so he could kiss her neck tenderly.

"What you thinking about?" she asked, it was unusual for him to act like this after fighting with his father and uncles.

"You" he admitted, then added "I love you."

Kate turned her head to face him "I love you too, but I'm not an idiot, what're you thinking about?"

"I'll tell you in the morning..."

He knotted their fingers together beneath the sheets as he kissed her, softly, breathing her in and feeling her body relax back into his. Kate moved away a little so she could lie on her back, then she hooked an ankle round the back of his knee to coax him in a little closer, so they could press their bodies flush against one another without crushing her. They only broke the kiss for brief, glancing moments to catch their breath, their eyes heavy-lidded but neither open nor entirely closed.

He was fiery hot and icy cold against her, still cold-limbed and wet from the shower, but already burning for her. One hand curled round her and trailed lightly up her back, just the right distance from her spine to make her mewl softly and arch into him; his other chilled hand came to rest on her thigh, the stark difference in temperature making her shiver as he massaged the inside of her thigh, just high enough to make her start to throb for him again.

Right now was the first time this record-high heat wave they were having this summer was doing anyone any good, because very few things made Gabriel happier than an already naked Kate in his bed (and one of the few things involved naked Kate and chocolate), willing to let him do whatever he wanted to do to her because it was too damn hot to protest – even if she had been a horny little minx earlier this evening. And right now, he wanted nothing more than to watch his girlfriend beneath him as she purred, mewled and moaned his name.

Clearly, from the way she was pressing up against him, she was long past needing this much foreplay. And even though he loved to taste her and feel her writhe beneath him, drawing out her orgasm until she was almost crying for it, he just didn't want that tonight. Tonight, he wanted to love her, to make love to her as he held her in his arms and kissed her.

Gabriel thrust slowly into her and she clung to him, twining her fingers into his hair and pulling gently. He instinctively pressed his nose to her neck deeply inhaling her heavenly scent, and it was already too late when her bitten-back whimper of pain brought him to his senses. As he looked at her, chewing on her bottom lip and quivering, he was all too aware of his knot still swelling inside her.

"Oh god no... no, I'm sorry. Katie I didn't mean to..."

Kate dug her nails into his shoulder as she put a hand over his mouth "Shut up" she gritted through her teeth "And don't move"

Gabriel did as he was told. He locked his jaw when a tear tracked down her cheek, hating himself sick with the knowledge that she was now bleeding off his knot. When her legs shook and her arms went slack he bit into his own fist with intention of punishing himself, until he felt his stomach lock up and his jaw went slack, his hands dropped down to the pillows and nearly ripped them in two as his knot stopped swelling and he came.

This was wrong, this was so wrong.

They'd been together four or five years the first time they'd tried. Both of them knew that it would be uncomfortable for her the first time she took his knot, so he'd been reluctant at first, but she'd shown him she was ready for it – shown him in what was one of the hottest and most knot-swelling ways he'd ever seen – so of course neither of them had expected what happened. It had been fine to start with, Kate moaning softly about how great it was to feel so filled, then she gritted her teeth a little, but then she got quiet, she got very quiet... and then she let out a moan of pain, tears springing to her eyes.

She'd told him to shut up then too.

Told him to shut up and don't move.

Same for the time after that, and the time after that.

There had been allot of blood then, just like the last time and just like there was now. And he knew that she'd be cooking all his favorite foods for the next few days, and she'd be openly submissive to him too, 'like a good little house wife' as Balthazar had once commented. Gabriel had him in a headlock for five minuets before he properly apologized.

When it stopped...

When it finally stopped, Gabriel pulled out of her steadily and with more caution than he'd ever done anything in his life. He drew up the covers around her like he was wrapping finely spun glass in cotton wool. Whispering to her all the time...

"I'm sorry"

"Katie I'm so sorry"

"I never want to hurt you"

"I love you"

He pulled away from her a little and lay beside her.

Neither of them spoke until morning. Gabriel hadn't slept much at all and Kate still had the same blissed-out look she'd had the night before as she slept, regardless of the pain. She kissed him lightly.

"What do you want for breakfast?" she asked, and to Gabriel it was the signal for the start of her 'good little housewife' behavior because on any other morning she'd smile and tell him to make his own damn breakfast. "I was thinking bacon, eggs, French toast?"

"Please don't" he begged, wrapping an arm round her so she couldn't leave the bed.

"What is it?"

"Don't, don't do this. Please don't do this again" his voice was weak and groggy, but he couldn't take this again, couldn't watch the woman who had openly and repeatedly protested against the suppression of beta's give in to her base instincts.

She knew exactly what he meant and smiled softly "But I want to" as usual, her smile completely disarmed him, like it had the first time he'd seen her and he'd dropped those water balloons on the football players heads by mistake. "Oh, and what were you going to tell me yesterday?"

"I want you to leave with me" he said, with only the barest moment of thought before he said it "We should get our own place". She was completely silent, and she looked a little scared

"What about Cas and Balthy?" she asked timidly

"They can visit" he promised, he didn't like the thought of leaving his brothers any more than she did "But I want it to be just you and me, away from... all that..."

She only thought about it for a moment before she agreed.


	5. Chapter 5

Cas woke up in Dean's bed at half six in the morning, lying face-down with his hands under the pillow, surrounded by the warm, musky scent of the alpha sleeping on the couch downstairs, and with an uncomfortable sticky feeling in his boxer-shorts. He flushed when he realized what had happened, it seemed he'd managed to get himself off by rutting against the mattress in his sleep.

Deciding that cleaning himself up was better than facing embarrassment, Cas got out of bed and checked for any evidence on the sheets before going in search of the bathroom.

He found it quite quickly – thank God someone had left the door open a little – and he shut the door, stripped off his boxers and dumped them in the sink, and then wiped the worst of the mess off himself with tissues. When he was what he deemed clean, he got to scrubbing the stains out of his boxers with hand-soap.

Then the door opened.

Cas wasn't sure whether he would have preferred Dean or a complete stranger stood in the doorway, but regardless, it was the latter, and he struggled between introducing himself and covering himself up. At his best guess, this was Dean's kid brother, not that they looked anything alike, but it was very unlikely to be some kind of creepy situation where Dean had an under-aged sex-slave hidden in his house.

The kid stared for a while, his eyes focused of Castiel's crotch, before he left and shut the bathroom door behind him. Cas was just about to let out the breath he'd been holding when the kid came back, holding out a pair of boxer-shorts.

"They're clean" he promised "better than wearing those too" he indicated to the soiled boxers in the sink.

After getting over the initial shock of the whole situation, he took the clean boxers and put them on quickly, thanking him in a quieter voice than he'd expected.

"You're Cas right?" he asked. Dean must have mentioned him.

"Castiel, yeah."

"I'm Sam" he smiled in a friendly way, dispersing the awkward tension a little. "You want some breakfast?" he asked, throwing Cas a curve-ball (so to speak). It was like the kid had done this before, met a stranger that his brother had brought home the night before and calmly offered them breakfast. Then it hit him. He probably had done this before.

"Um... okay? Yeah sure, just lemme get dressed first."

"Cool, stick those in the hamper if you like, and I'll get Dean to give them back to you" Sam shut the door behind him when he left again.

Castiel washed his face and hands before going to get dressed. In the hallway he ran into Sam again, the kid was now dressed with his hair combed. Sam laughed good-naturedly "We'll have to stop meeting like this" he joked, before skirting round him. As much as it stuck a lump in his chest, Cas had to admit that this kid was skilled at dealing with new people.

When he was dressed, tie shoved in his pocket and collar button left undone, he straightened out Dean's bed, unable to leave it messy and looking slept-in.

He left his shoes off so as he crept through the living room he wouldn't wake Dean – who was still snoring contently on the couch, flat on his back with one arm thrown out onto the floor – Sam however was making no attempt to be quiet as he laid the table and started frying some strips of bacon.

"Bacon all right for you?" he asked politely, and Cas nodded.

Cas sat down as Sam served the bacon onto a plate and told him to sit down, he waited until Sam was seated and eating before he started himself.

"So you go to the college where Dean works?" he asked

"Uh yeah."

"Cool, what're you studying?"

"Ancient History and Religious Studies" he said, starting to get more comfortable talking to this kid, it felt kind of familiar, like he could relate to him, except he'd spent his childhood covering for Gabriel – and more recently Balthazar – when he was sneaking out or sneaking in late. He also got the feeling that Sam had some tried-and-tested conversation topics ready before he'd even walked downstairs, just like he'd had some previously-agreed excuses to give his father as to why Gabriel's door was locked from the inside. "What about you? What do you want to do when you leave high school?"

Sam seemed to sink into his shell a little "I don't know yet... I was thinking about studying law?" he said timidly, lowering his voice a little.

"You'll have to work really hard for that then" he said fairly, laying down his fork "But – uh – from what I hear it sounds like you already do."

A light blush crept onto Sam's cheeks "Dean mentioned me?" he asked, Cas guessed it didn't happen much then, which made Cas feel a little bad for bringing it up.

"Uh, not really, he said he had a brother when I was telling him about my brothers, but I actually heard about you from my-" he had to stop himself from saying 'sister', it was a bad habit he'd gotten into, "brother's girlfriend, when I was telling her about Dean" yes, that wasn't exactly the truth but it saved explaining the embarrassment of when he first met Dean.

Sam frowned a little "What's her name?"

"Kate McCarthy, she's a librarian at-"

"Katie?!" he exclaimed excitedly "She's really cool!"

Cas laughed at his enthusiasm "Yeah, she recognized the name Winchester, started telling me about how you talk about Dean all the time" he teased, nudging Sam's arm playfully, not noticing that it was the same thing Kate did with him.

"Not all the time!" Sam protested.

"Don't worry, I won't say anything to Dean" he promised, smiling softly. Sam glanced up and caught his eye for a moment, then seemed to freeze a little, throwing his gaze back down to his plate, his cheeks flushing. "So where do you want to study law? I hear Stanford's good, and if you worked really hard you could get a full ride" he suggested.

They chatted for a while, until Dean called drearily from the living room "Cas, your phone." it must have woken him up.

"Sorry, one minute..." Cas rushed to his phone and fished it out his jacket.

The display read 'Novak, Gabriel', which was odd, because the last time Gabriel had called him from his own phone (which he neglected to use, especially whenever he actually needed to contact his older brother) was eight years ago when he finally got Kate to go on a date with him; it had been the middle of the night, Castiel had been about eleven at the time, and although he was happy for his nut-job of an older brother, that half-screamed half-yelled phone call had really been a step too far, even with a giggling Kate telling him to 'shh!' in the background.

"Hello?" he said

"He's alive!" Gabriel called to someone else on his end of the line, they responded with a far-off 'I told you' - it sounded like Balthazar. "Well hello there dirty stop out, where have you been?" asked Gabriel teasingly, he had a certain quality to his voice that he'd not heard in a while, it would have made him smile if he wasn't trying to think how to explain where he was last night

"I -uh- stayed with a friend" he said, sounding as honest as he could, because he wasn't exactly lying. He could probably consider Dean a friend... or at least maybe Sam?

Gabriel chuckled "Yeah sure, whatever. I just called to tell you not to go home yet, daddy-dearest is still cooling down after a rampage last night"

Cas knew what Gabriel was thinking. Michael Novak could be a venomous-tongued man at the best of times.

"Um, okay... I guess I could go to the library or something, but I've not got any clean clothes"

"Uh, where are you? I'll get Balth to drop you something off."

"You can borrow something of mine if you can't go home yet" Dean said from behind him, making Cas give a small yelp in surprise.

"Your 'friend' eager to get you out of your clothes again?" laughed Gabriel, clearly he'd heard Dean.

Cas covered the receiver on the phone "No, it's alright, I couldn't ask you to do anything else for me" he said to Dean, before taking his free hand away from the phone and snapping at his brother "What d'you mean 'again'?" he almost squeaked defensively, before confiding shyly to his brother, in front of Dean "We didn't... do anything" he was very aware of the furious red his cheeks had turned. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Dean smirk awkwardly and go back through to the kitchen.

"What? Really?" he said, shocked "You didn't?"

"It's not that hard to believe" Cas responded, a little insulted

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I just know what we alpha's are like with a beta in heat, all control goes to hell and stays there" Gabriel said, sounding confused, but quickly adding "Sorry, Kate told me; she was worried about you, you know what she's like"

"Well I..." when Cas thought about it, there was only a moment or two of Dean's behavior that could be categorized as 'alpha' without a word of doubt, the rest of his behavior was... odd.

On the other end of the line, Gabriel had gone as silent as Cas, like he sensed his brother was distressed in some way "We'll talk when you get home" he said eventually, shocking Cas; it was very rare that he and Gabriel would really talk, normally Kate would give him all the 'talks' he needed, especially since he'd gone through his first heat.

"Okay..." Cas said quietly, leaning on the door frame and trying not to stare to obviously at Dean as he teased his younger brother. He said goodbye to Gabriel and hung up the phone, putting it back in his jacket.


	6. Chapter 6

Cas sat with Gabriel in the small cafe round the corner from the chocolatiers where he worked. Gabriel had already explained about an alpha's instinct to mate a beta in heat even in spite of suppressants, and Cas neglected to mention Dean's odd behavior as he sat and listened. Now they sat in silence as Gabriel scratched a bit of dried chocolate off his wrist as what remained his caramel mocha with whipped cream and sprinkles slowly went cold. Cas dragged his fingertip round the rim of his mug, wondering why it had gotten so awkward all of a sudden.

"There's something I've got to tell you" Gabriel said abruptly, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table.

"Okay" Cas said, not releasing the tight grip he had on his coffee mug, because he knew his hands would start shaking.

Gabriel took a deep breath "Me and Katie we -uh-" Cas dug his nails into the palm of his hand feeling the trembling rise to his throat "We're gonna move out... of the house, get our own place."

The tension continued as Castiel tried to loosen the lump in his chest. He'd thought Gabriel was going to say he and Kate had broken up, this news wasn't nearly as upsetting, but still he couldn't quite bring himself to be entirely happy about it. "That's great!" Cas said, not really lying "When?"

Gabriel eyed his youngest brother cautiously, it was obvious to anyone that he was upset about it, despite the smile on his face "As soon as we can. You and Balth can still visit. It's just that me and Kate need our own space, where it's me and not dad who's the dominant alpha."

For a moment, Cas was distracted from the welling pressure at the back of his throat, which was all he needed. "Dominant alpha?" he asked, he couldn't remember Kate ever saying anything about that. "What's that?"

"Uh- well in houses, in family situations mainly, when there are -uh- more than one alpha older than mating age... one of them asserts their dominance...?" he struggled for words "Well, in our house there's dad, me, and Balth, but dad is the dominant alpha because..."

"He's our father?" Cas suggested, kind of understanding what he was trying to explain.

"That's not always the case though..." he said, scratching the back of his head "I think I've got a book on it at home."

"You own a book?" Cas joked feebly, Gabriel was far from the reading-for-leisure type.

"I bought it after Kate stopped-" he caught himself before he said exactly what Kate had stopped.

"Stopped what?"

Gabriel glanced at the few people in the cafe, then shifted his chair closer to Cas "You remember a few years ago, just before Kate moved in and me and dad had that fight?"

"Yeah..." Cas remembered it very clearly, he and Balthazar – only twelve and thirteen years old at the time – had holed themselves up in their room (before the loft conversion there were only three bedrooms and their father's study) from the fight on Friday night, only leaving once for food, until Sunday morning when they were forced to go to church, and it was obvious that Gabriel wasn't coming home any time soon. Their father had made no attempt to comfort them, and when Castiel asked he'd simply said that Gabriel was 'A great disappointment to the family'.

The fight had been about Gabriel moving out to get his own place with Kate, they weren't married, or even engaged, so their father had gone through the roof at the mere suggestion.

Gabriel only risked seeing them twice in the two months that he and their father didn't speak, eventually the two of them came to some kind of truce and that was when Gabriel had finally moved back in, bringing Kate with him.

"Well, because dad won."

"You said you came round to his way of thinking?" Cas corrected "Which is why he let Kate move in?"

"Not really, no, it was his way of keeping his control over me, and by doing that, he asserted himself as the dominant alpha of the household. I think that's why..." Gabriel ran his hand through his hair, and Cas waited for his brother to keep a hold on himself "Me and Kate can't live together in a house where I'm not the dominant alpha" he said, then took a shaky breath "It's why she stopped going into heat"

"Kate stopped-!"

"Yeah, the book I got said that a beta who's living in a house where the dominant alpha doesn't... do that thing anymore, they'll stop going into heat, because – biologically – they're not expecting to be... bred... even if..." Castiel could see the pain in his brother's eyes as he said it, he gave his arm a firm squeeze.

"So me and Balthazar can still visit?" he asked, changing the subject as he pulled his hand back. Gabriel would hate him if he let his brother talk about his problems in public.

Gabriel smiled again "Yeah, just call first" he said, his voice still sounding a little broken. Then his phone beeped. He checked the message and smiled again "You wanna help us pack?" he asked, tucking his phone away and finishing off his drink in three large gulps.

"Your leaving today?" Cas asked, shocked, setting down his empty coffee mug and grabbing his jacket.

"Yeah, we are now" he said, leaving the cafe with Castiel at his heels "You know how Kate's old man is away most of the year? Well Kate just heard back from him and he says he's cool with us staying in his house until we find somewhere of our own."

Both Kate and Gabriel refused to let anyone else help them move. So instead Castiel and Balthazar sat on the front porch and watched them pack everything into Gabe's friend's pickup. It didn't take them long, and as Kate was securing the tarp over the boxes and suitcases (there was no rain forecast but she insisted and Gabriel didn't seem to have it in him to complain) Gabriel came over and sat between them.

He looked thoughtful for a moment "I'm gonna miss not havin' you two around, but that's not an excuse to come round all the time," the two of them chuckled a little "But seriously though, if dad ever gets to be too much I'm sure we could deal with ya for an hour or two" he put his arms round both of them and pulled them in for a brotherly hug, kissing Cas roughly on the head and doing the same to Balthazar before he pushed him off in distaste. Cas had never really minded that his brothers sometimes treated him like a girl, it was kinda nice... but only sometimes.

They got up and Gabriel kissed Kate before she could hug anyone. She kissed Balthazar on the cheek (her, he didn't mind) and pulled him into a hug. Balthazar hugged her tightly, palms flat against her back and hip, and when Kate tried to let go his grip remained firm. 

"Not done yet" he said, he'd always flirted – and generally acted inappropriately – with Kate "This might be the last time I ever get to hold such a perfect woman in my arms" he teased dramatically, pulling back a little, as if to kiss her.

Kate – who very well knew that he at least used to fancy her – humored him with a peck on the lips before pulling out of his grip and turning to Cas.

Cas turned his nose towards her hair, drawing his arms round her waist just briefly enough to make it seem like he didn't want them to leave. Which of course he didn't, he didn't want them to leave, but he couldn't stand it if they took their time leaving, he just wanted to get it out of the way.

She treated them both with the same affection as she stood in front of them and gave them each one last tender touch, both of them moving towards the soft hand on their cheek – Cas doing so unconsciously, Balthazar to wind up his older brother.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit short, but this chapter contains what could be defined as Balthazar/Castiel. Nothing explicit at all, just a bit of brotherly-love. But still, some may like a little fore-warning.  
> Also, the format of the texts sent between Castiel and Dean might vary (as in some are in bold, others are not) if that happens, could you drop me a message? Please? Thank you.  
> Thank you for those who are still reading. Happy faces to you all.

The silence was deafening during Sunday dinner, with just their father, Balthazar and Castiel sat at the table; the two vacant chairs were a glaring, neon-lit ‘elephant in the room’.

Gabriel had written their father a letter – which at the time looked like the most sensible thing he’d ever done – explaining that they’d moved out and would not be returning to this house. 

Castiel had retreated swiftly to Balthazar’s room under the guise of being ‘bored’ when he’d heard the car rumble up the driveway on Saturday evening. Balthazar had given him an sceptical look from over the magazine he’d been reading on his bed before stashing it away and retrieving a chess set from a draw, telling him to ‘come right in’.

After three wins and no noise from downstairs – or anywhere else in the house – Castiel gave his brother half a smile and left the room, edging his way cautiously downstairs purely out of curiosity than anything else. There was no doubt he’d found the letter, because the light was on in his office, but where was the yelling?

Castiel was about to creep back upstairs when his father spoke from inside the office.

"Come in Castiel.” his voice was deep, calm, and level.

Dean would be lying if he said he hadn’t kept a keen eye out for Cas since first thing on Monday, but it was a big campus and although he wasn’t surprised that he didn’t see him around, he couldn’t stop himself from sending a text in his break.

** To Cas:  
                 Hey Cas, it’s Dean. :)**

He felt like an idiot sending it, but he’d forgotten to give his number in return. And for the first few minutes of no response, he shifted awkwardly and kept checking his phone every few seconds. He was working again when his phone buzzed in the pocket of his overalls, he’d tied the sleeve over the pocket by mistake and it was a struggle to get it out for a few moments.

 ** From Cas:  
** **Hello Dean.**

Dean blinked at the screen. What did he mean? Was he annoyed? Or was he just saying hello? Or maybe he really had been upset why what Dean had done the other night, and now he didn’t want to see him again?

Dean mentally scolded himself. He was acting like a damn chick over some guy she had a crush on. Not that he had a ‘crush’ on Cas – hell no – It was more like a… well hell if he knew what he felt!

** To Cas:  
                 U ok? :)**

It was the best he could do given the fact that he’d suddenly become incapable of forming proper sentences. There was no response until his shift ended.

** From Cas:**  
 **I am thank you.**  
 **Are you and Sam well?**

Castiel’s full, grammatically correct sentences were starting to make Dean feel bad. Especially with him asking about Sammy as well.

** To Cas:  
                 Good, and yh, we’re both good.**

He couldn’t think of anything else to add, so he sent that first so Cas didn’t think he was being ignored. But he didn’t want to answer his phone while driving so he stepped on it and checked at a stop light.

** From Cas:**  
 **I enjoyed last Friday,**  
 **are you available to meet up again?**  
 **By Wednesday it should not be**  
 **so uncomfortable for you.**

** To Cas:**  
 **Fri, sm time if good 4 u?**  
 **Wdn’t say thngs like tht,**  
 **snds suggestive ;P**

** From Cas:**  
 **Yes, but maybe we could**  
 **meet a little earlier?**  
 **That was my intention.**

Dean froze. The blaring horn of the car behind him snapped him out of it.

He struggled to keep to the speed limit, the phone bleeped again when he was only a block away from the house.

                **From Cas:  
                 I apologise, was it unwelcome?**

                **To Cas:**  
                     **No, god no.**

That was all he managed to text while he continued to wrap his head round Castiel’s ‘suggestion’. He just didn’t seem like the kind of guy to speak about stuff like that, let alone text it.  Sam only got a cursory ‘thumbs-up’ before Dean went straight up stairs.

                **To Cas:**  
 **So wht wr u thnkin**  
 **4 fri?**

** From Cas:**  
 **Whatever you choose**  
 **I’ll be happy with;**  
 **as long as I get to spend**  
 **the evening with you.**

Cas had gone from suggestive to sweet in a matter of texts, but it left a fluttering feeling in Dean’s chest.

Balthazar watched his brother’s secretive smile all week. It wasn’t like he was taunting him with it, it was like he couldn’t hide it or he didn’t know it was there. He was also texting allot more than he usually did, grinning stupidly on occasion. The one time he asked ‘who you texting Cassie?’ Cas had jumped out of his skin and quickly hidden his phone explaining that it was ‘no one’.

Balthazar was proud to say that he lasted until Wednesday until he snapped forward and snatched the phone out of Cas’ hand while he was cooking dinner. His brother deserved his privacy, but not that much.

It was easy to keep Cas out of reach while he flicked through the texts.

He rattled off the people who were in his inbox “Kate… Me… Gabe… boring, boring, boring… ooh, who’s ‘Winchester, Dean’?” he teased as Cas tackled him onto the couch in the living room. “Ouch. Aw, how sweet! ‘I liked hugging you’? You’re such a virgin Cas.”

That was all he got to read before Cas pushed his face into the couch cushions and knocked the phone out his hand, grabbing it back. Sulking a little now, Cas marched back to the kitchen to save the burning spaghetti.

“Oh come on Cas, you know I didn’t mean it like that!” he protested, he knew all about his past attempts at girlfriends all ending for very similar reasons; Castiel wasn’t anything more or less than apathetic about it, but he still didn’t like Balthazar’s teasing.

“I didn’t mean it like that either” muttered Cas.

“Then how did you mean it?” he pushed, standing behind his younger brother and wrapping his arms round his shoulders, he felt Cas rest his chin on his forearm, raising his free hand to hold his brother’s wrist affectionately. Cas didn’t say anything else, but he wasn’t in a bad mood anymore, either way Balth didn’t move, just rested his head against his brothers as he kept the pasta from sticking to the pan.

Unlike Gabriel, Balthazar liked to be close and cuddly with their youngest brother, sometimes being mistaken for a couple when they were out in public together – not that Balthazar cared if he didn’t know them, and he tried to get Cas to be less self-conscious too. He didn’t think it was inappropriate at all, although he did censor his behaviour when it was clear Cas was or would be uncomfortable.

“I felt like nothing could hurt me, like he wouldn’t let it” Cas said quietly. Balthazar retracted a little, in shock, before wrapping his arms tighter round Castiel, who brought his arms back to loop round Balthazar in an awkward backwards hug. His head dropped back a little so their cheeks rested against one another.

“When do I get to meet him?” Balthazar asked, after they were silent for long enough for the bolognaise to start hissing in protest.

“Never” Cas said, and Balthazar chuckled. Cas kept his eyes closed for a moment longer before turning off the stove. “Have you set the table?” he asked as he pulled out of his brother’s slightly clingy embrace. Castiel’s phone buzzed again.

As they walked back to his car, Dean felt Castiel’s fingertips brush the back of his hand and over his fingers. He glanced at the slightly shorter man, he was keeping his head down but he still caught Dean’s eye; Cas snapped his hand back to his side and looked away.

Dean smirked and reached out, sliding his hand into Castiel’s and pulling the bashful dope towards him – so their clasped hands bumped off one another’s sides. Although he kept his head down still, Dean caught the happy grin that tugged at the corner of Castiel’s mouth.

He fished the car keys out his pocket with his other hand when they reached the car. Before he unlocked the door, he tugged softly at their hands so Cas faced him, and then he tugged them a little closer together.

“So…” he started vaguely, untwining his hand from Castiel’s only to play with his pale fingers like they were the most fascinating and delicate thing in the world “Sammy’s staying with a friend…” He heard Castiel’s breathing catch; he still wouldn’t meet his eyes, so Dean placed a hand on his slender hip, just letting it rest there, giving Cas a clear chance to move it away. When he didn’t, Dean carried on “Would you wanna… come back to mine? Stay the night?”

It seemed like an eternity stretched on until Cas answered him, keeping his eyes focused on where their fingers were twisting together “I…”

Where Dean was being cautious not to scare Cas off, it seemed that Cas was just too embarrassed to say what he was thinking.

“I-Maybe we could-uh-… share your bed this-this time?” he muttered, only sparing a very brief glance up at Dean, but it was enough to see the red blush that had risen up on Castiel’s cheeks.

His hand gave Castiel’s hip a firm squeeze before moving to his chin to raise Castiel’s head “I’d like that” he whispered, before capturing his lips in a soft kiss.


	8. Chapter 8

Cas sighed softly as Dean placed an open-mouthed kiss to his bare neck. Dean was taking his time, plucking the buttons on Castiel’s cardigan open one-by-one, then kissing his way back to Castiel’s reddened lips as he pushed the cardigan off his shoulders.

He let the frankly intoxicating man, trapped between him and the bedroom door, pull him by the short strands of his hair into another kiss that made him forget where he was, that just seemed to press the ‘Delete All’ button in his brain. Cas was a good kisser, good in a way that made your gut flutter and your knees go weak, he’d happily spend hours on end just kissing him – he’d have to if he didn’t find the god-dammed door handle, since he’d had it jammed into his spine when Cas had jumped him at the top of the stairs the damn thing seemed to have fallen out of existence.

Cas pushed his thigh between Dean’s, and then pulled him in closer by his belt buckle. Even as Cas pushed his tongue past Dean’s lips, Dean couldn’t help but focus on the firm bulge pressed against his thigh. A slender hand pushed up his t-shirt and Dean pulled it over his head, breaking away from Cas for a moment longer than he wanted to – just to get his breath back.

Still leaning back against the door, flushed but not even slightly short of breath, Cas held Dean’s hips against his own by the tight grip he still had on Dean’s belt, but he had his eyes closed and his jaw clamped tight shut.

“You okay?”

Cas nodded his head slightly.

“We can stop…”

Cas shook his head, holding onto Dean’s belt a little tighter.

Dean waited for a moment, thinking. Then abruptly – and so smoothly he’d be very proud of himself for about a split-second afterward – he opened his bedroom door, lifted Cas up so he had no choice but to wrap his arms and legs round him, and carried him into his room.

“Just tell me to stop” he said, before taking Castiel’s ear lobe between his teeth, making him gasp and dig his nails into Dean’s shoulders.

“-kay” he managed to mutter.

Putting one knee on his bed, he pushed Cas back, then lifted up his shirt and kissed his navel, feeling his abdomen twitch beneath his lips. He pushed the shirt up further, and carried on kissing over soft lines of Castiel’s lightly toned chest. Cas wriggled a little, and Dean realised that he was trying to get his shirt off. He left him to it as he ran his hands from Castiel’s knees up and over his thighs, feeling the firm, strong muscle beneath the denim. He saw Cas toss the shirt aside and instantly he captured his nipple between his lips, flicking the tip of his tongue over the pert nub of it. Castiel’s breath fluttered and caught when Dean moved across his chest to the other nipple, bringing his calloused hand up to the one he’d left slicked with saliva.

Castiel’s long fingers caught his hair again, pulling him up, and whimpering into his mouth as he kissed him and Dean carried on twisting one nipple between his thumb and fore-finger.

Dean popped the button on his jeans and pushed them down over his slim hips. Dean continued kissing Cas – not letting him take control again so he could actually remember what he was trying to do – as he tossed Castiel’s jeans off the side of the bed. Slowing down and pulling away slightly, Dean kissed Castiel’s jaw as he gently placed his hand over the growing bulge in Castiel’s shorts.

Castiel’s hips stuttered like he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to pull away or push against Dean’s hand. He made up his mind soon enough; he bit back a moan as he canted his hips up a little. When his hands pushed their way between them, Dean thought it had gotten too much for him, but instead he made almost worryingly quick work of Dean’s belt buckle and any other fastening that was in his way.

Dean pulled back to get rid of his jeans, and watched Cas as he re-positioned himself on the bed. The light of the street lamp outside glared through his open curtains.

When Dean looked back up at Cas, he was at a complete loss for words.

Cas had pushed himself up the bed so he could slump back against the pillows, he was sat with his legs open and his eyelids fluttered with a small moan as he rubbed his palm steadily against the hard line in his underwear, curling his fingers round it slowly. His reddened lips were parted, letting out more of the hot breathy sighs Dean wanted to feel dance over his skin as he-

“Fuck.” Dean choked out, despite his best efforts to keep quiet. Instantly Cas snapped his legs together.

“Sorry…” he muttered, embarrassed.

“No… no, no, no, god no…” Dean rushed, placing a hand on each of Castiel’s knees and gently easing them apart again and settling between them so they weren’t quite touching. “You’re so fucking gorgeous Cas…” he was well aware he could have phrased it better.

But screw it.

Because he was.

Cas was gorgeous.

Is.

Cas is gorgeous.

Timidly, Cas sat up and looped his arms over Dean’s shoulders “Really?” he asked.

Dean could only nod dumbly.

He dipped his head to scatter short, teasing kisses across Dean’s lips “Dean.” He said softly, his hands resting on Dean’s biceps as he shifted to straddle the older man’s lap.

“Cas.” Not able to crane his neck any further in search of another kiss, he pulled Cas towards him by wrapping his arms tightly round his slim waist and holding him fast against him. He let one hand wander, trail down Castiel’s unexpectedly smooth thigh and push back up again, venturing under the leg of his boxers to softly caress the more sensitive skin at his hip. “Do you shave your legs?”

Cas shifted back “… I like the way it feels…” he mumbled, trying to wriggle away from him, but Dean placed his other hand on Cass’s other thigh.

“So do I” he grinned, then there was a very odd look on Cass’s face as he lowered his hand between them to pluck at the elastic of Dean’s underwear.

“Can we take them off at the same time?”

Dean didn’t know what Cas was thinking, so he only nodded and reluctantly pulled away from him again to take off his underwear. When he looked back Cas was back in the reclined, spread-legged position he’d been in before.

Dean really did forget everything then, forgot even that the image of perfection in front of him was waiting for him.

His cock throbbed painfully under Cass’s gaze and slowly, Dean crawled back between the smaller man’s thighs. “You sure about this?” Dean managed to mutter.

Cas made a vague noise, finally pulling his eyes up to Dean’s before he said “Please…” he slid his hand round Dean’s neck, pulling him into a kiss, nipping at his bottom lip. “Please Dean…”

What was left of Dean’s hesitation was shot to hell when Cas begged his name like that.

He lowered Cas back and slid one hand between the boy’s thighs, he pressed the pad of his finger against his hole and Cas canted his hips up towards the touch, drawing a shaky breath. “Hold your legs up”

Cas did as he was told, hooking a hand under each knee and pulling them up to his chest. Dean held Cass’s cock and pumped the shaft slowly as he circled the tip of his finger round the tight pucker. Dean frowned a little as a small amount of slick leaked from the hole and onto his fingers. He knew some beta males’ were capable of producing it but he’d never been with a guy before that could, which explained why Cas seemed so over-sensitised at just a few touches there; he should have done this differently, made it better for Cas, instead of what could basically be pinned as nothing but ‘lust fuelled fondling’. Dean pushed a single finger in to find that Cas was already loose. Cas let out a soft whine when Dean added a second finger – although he wasn’t in pain at all. He pumped his fingers steadily in and out, drawing out more slick and making Cas keen and whimper, arching up into Dean’s touch.

“I’m ready Dean” he begged between short, shallow breaths “Please” Just as Dean added a third finger, scissoring and twisting them inside Cas.

“Okay” Dean whispered, pulling his fingers out and wiping his hand on the side of the bed as he watched Cass’s now empty hole stay open, clenching and twitching slightly like it missed being full. He rolled on a condom and spread Cass’s thighs. Cas had long since abandoned holding them in favour for gripping the pillow above his head and keeping himself quiet.

Cas watched him with heavy-lidded eyes as Dean lined himself up to Cass’s hole.

He gripped Cass’s leg a little tighter as the head of his cock was engulfed in a hot, velvety heat. Cass’s head dropped back as he pushed in further, baring his neck to Dean; who dipped forwards to press messy open-mouthed kisses to the flawless pale skin as he bottomed out. Without taking his lips from Cass’s neck Dean pulled his hips back in long, steady thrusts.

Cas moaned through his hand, that was stifling the noises he was making, and Dean pulled it away, locking their fingers together and pinning it to the bed as Cass’s other hand gripped tightly to Dean’s shoulder, digging his nails in.

*

Dean idly played with Cass’s almost too long hair as he got his breath back; the younger man was curled up against his side, completely worn-out and still flushed a very appealing shade of red from… well, that. He kept pressing kisses to the parts of Dean he could reach without having to move too much.

He’d cried, moaned and whimpered ‘Dean’ as he came, splattering over his own stomach; leaving Dean with the very difficult decision of whether to lick him clean or not – he didn’t, maybe next time though.

“There’re pins-and-needles in my feet” Cas muttered as he shifted a little.

“Want me to move over?” Dean had a fairly small double bed, so you could fit two people but only if they slept close – which only came back to bite him in the ass considering he wasn’t really a fan of cuddling.

“No, it’s okay” Cas knew why, A* in Biology, it wasn’t difficult to work out why there was low circulation of blood in his hands and feet. 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Cass caught sight of his reflection in the microwave door and backed up a little, putting the plate and mug on the draining board and smoothing down his hair best he could.

He’d woken up early (as usual); Dean had woken up very briefly, and told Cass to help himself to breakfast, before going straight back to sleep. So he’d been watching a very orange early-morning chat show to pass the time.

Despite his best efforts, Cass couldn’t get his hair to lie flat. Just as he wondered if Dean would mind if he took a shower, broad, calloused hands snaked round his waist and soft lips caught his ear. He jumped, only to be held a little closer to his assailant.

“Morning” Dean whispered huskily in his ear, hugging him from behind and pressing kisses into his hair, successfully making it stick up at all angles with very little effort at all. Cass tilted his head up to kiss Dean without any conscious decision.

“Morning” Cass sighed against Dean’s shoulder.

Dean’s hands slid over Cass’s body as he turned, leaving a warm tingling in their wake. Cass felt oddly soothed, wrapped up in Dean’s arms and kissing him lazily, in the middle of a kitchen, not even properly dressed yet – later he’d remember that he’d often caught Kate and Gabe like this in the morning until he had the sense to adjust his morning routine.

“Wanna come back to bed?” Dean asked, resting his forehead against Castiel’s and closing his eyes “It’s too early to be awake” he whined.

Cass suppressed a laugh; Dean wasn’t awake yet, still blurry-eyed and a little uninhibited in what he was saying, it was adorable.

“I dunno, I’ve got Soccer game at ten and I’ve still got to go home and get my stuff” he reasoned, wondering how many suicide runs he’d have to do if he was late, and deciding if staying a bit longer would be worth it.

“Wait what time is it?”

“About seven I think.”

Dean dropped his head onto Castiel’s shoulder “Urgh, you’re a freak.”

“You didn’t have to get up, I would have said goodbye before I left.”

Dean grinned lazily against his shoulder and his hands slid down to cup Castiel’s ass, massaging it firmly as his lips found his neck again “We probably don’t have the same thing in mind.”

Cass shivered, arching his back towards Dean as his body outright betrayed him. As Dean nipped softly at his skin – something he’d not done the night before – Cass twitched away from him. “No marks.” He said, a small frown on his face that swiftly dissolved into a moan when Dean’s fingers parted his cheeks and pressed against his hole through the fabric of his boxers, dampening them a little.

“Okay” Dean promised, steadily leading Cass back upstairs. When they got back to his room, Dean stripped his boxers off as he backed Cass toward the bed. He hesitated after stripping Cass of his shirt, because Cass had that odd look in his eye again, the same one from last night. Before he could say anything about it, Cass dropped his shorts to the floor, stepped out of them, then turned around and bent over the bed.

He looked over his shoulder at Dean – whose jaw had all but hit the floor when Cass had presented to him – and flushed pink when he saw Dean.

“Sorry-I… Is this okay?” he asked.

“Definitely.”

Dean took a few moments longer to admire the view; Cass bent over, legs spread, with his hole open a little already, slick dripping steadily from it and over his ball sack – there wasn’t as much as yesterday but Dean wasn’t too worried about that at the moment. Dean couldn’t help but love that Cass didn’t just shave his legs – the only sight of hair below his waist was a thin trail of dark soft curls running down from his belly button to the base of his cock, the rest of him was smooth.

Dropping to his knees behind Cass, Dean trailed his finger down after the line of slick and Cass gave a soft whine. Placing a hand on each of Cass’s thighs and holding him firm, Dean dipped forward and licked up the wetness that had dripped from the hole before pushing his finger into Cass and pumping it slowly. A shocked cry became short breathy moans as Dean gradually added a second and third finger, scissoring and spreading Cass open.

“Gash-uh, please Dean” Cass gasped out. Dean didn’t ignore him, but he did give his fingers one last crook downwards, finally finding that spot. Cass choked out a moan; he would’ve collapsed if he didn’t have something to hold onto and Dean supporting his hips.

Dean withdrew his hand, giving it a quick wipe on his discarded t-shirt from the day before, and stood behind Cass “Get on the bed” he said, and Cass didn’t protest, his legs still weak, but he did stay face down.

Making a mental note that would only be swiftly forgotten Dean rolled on a condom and straddled the back of Cass’s thighs. He pushed his thumbs into the cleft of Cass’s ass and parted his cheeks gently.

The glistening ring of muscle clenched and quivered under Dean’s touch, Cass gave a begging moan and twitched towards the touch.

Dean completely sheathed himself in Cass with one thrust; making Cass shivers and moans beautifully.

Cass was far more vocal than what Dean had been expecting, but every choked whine and loud moan was more than welcome in Dean’s opinion. At first he wondered if Cass was faking it, but he was re-assured when it seemed that he seemed pretty much incapable of forming extended sentences, unless he was begging for Dean to fuck him.

On some level remembering that Cass couldn’t be late for his Soccer game Dean thrust into Cass in quick, sharp snaps, each thrust rocking Cass’s cock against the bed. He lifted Cass’s hips up and held them steady, resting his forehead between his shoulders and angling his thrusts a little deeper. Wrapping an arm round the slim waist in front of him, Dean slipped his free hand round to Cass’s cock. He gathered the pre-come that had beaded at the head of his cock and spread it over the head and down the shaft. For a moment he wondered if he could make Cass come without so much as a hand on his cock, but then Cass was already clenching round him, keening and moaning.

Dean picked up his pace, his hips began to stutter, and all at once the hot pressure that had been building up in his abdomen spilled over. His hand tightened around Cass, who bit into the pillow he was clinging to and groaned through his release.

*

Kate snored softly, lying on her front, with her face smushed against her pillow; Gabriel was laying half on top of her, drooling slightly between her shoulder blades.

The blaring alarm clock didn’t instantly rouse either of them. Kate’s snore ceased as she turned her head away from the offending noise with a frustrated groan. Gabriel half-woke and reached out blindly for the alarm, eventually smacking it off the side and silencing it.

He could have sworn he’d only closed his eyes and it was ringing again, gaining volume like it was entitled to disturb their contented slumber. He crawled across Kate – who grumbled and turned her head to glare at him – and reached over the edge of the bed to fish for the alarm and tear the batteries out, because it was easier than finding the damn button.

As he dragged himself back – leaving the clock on the floor – he stopped over Kate, who was still glaring at him blearily for crawling over her, and pretty much resting his full weight on her back as he killed the clock. Instantly he stooped down and blew a raspberry on her cheek. She half-heartedly swatted at him, but still let him crawl into her arms and cuddle up with her in a very similar way to how Cass would. Except he usually preferred it if she was topless – no such luck this morning, she was in one of his old t-shirts. But still, he loved it.

He’d only spent a few moments considering sliding his hand’s under the shirt when she made and uncomfortable noise and brought her knees up a little, shifting away from him.

“Cramps?” he asked, a little distracted by his cheek pushed into her cleavage.

“Yeah…” she groaned, pushing him away all together and curling onto her side, only to whimper in pain and stretch out again.

“I’ll get you some breakfast and a hot water bottle.” He promised, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek.

“Brush your teeth too.” She mumbled as he re-arranged the covers over her in the over-bearing way he did.

*

Balthazar peered curiously down the stairs when he heard the front door shut for the second time that morning. He might be lazy, sure he was still in his pyjama bottoms and moments ago he’d been in bed, but he was never one to stay asleep until three in the afternoon – that was Gabriel – he’d been monitoring an auction in Germany on his laptop. Cass was running about downstairs.

“Slut.” He called from the top of stairs.

Cass looked up at his brother like a rabbit caught in headlights. “Shut up” he said, throwing his brother a withering look and fiddling with his kitbag. “Dad’s not in then?”

“Left for work hours ago”

Cass shifted awkwardly and glanced behind him to the still open front door. “Do you still want to meet Dean?” he asked carefully.

“Definitely”

“Then go get dressed” he said, before stepping out the door to wave someone in. Instead of at least putting a top on, Balthazar sat down on the top step and grinned as a guy – presumably Dean – a little taller than Cass came in. When Dean saw Balthazar, Balth grinned and winked.

“Dean this is my brother Balthazar…” he muttered only just loud enough for them both to hear him “Balth this is Dean…” Cass rushed off into the kitchen and came back with a pair of football boots and shin pads, stashing them into his kitbag.

Balthazar stared at Dean as intently as he could, weighing the guy up with his eyes, he seemed alright. “So Cass, I can finally see why you’ve had to spend the night so often. I don’t think you’d even be able to walk straight after a round or two with your-uh ‘friend’.”

*

Dean sat in the stands with Balthazar, cheering the team on – specifically Cass, but so was everyone else in the audience, one girl had even made a banner – when Balthazar said, out of the blue “Hurt him and I’ll make your life hell.”

All Dean could respond with was a ‘What?’ before Balthazar’s attention was drawn away by a short, older guy with light brown hair.

“Bathy! Who’s your buddy?”

Balthazar introduced them to one another. This was Cass’s oldest brother Gabriel – Cass really wasn’t kidding when he said Gabriel was short. Dean nodded in greeting and shook Gabriel’s offered hand, just as the crowd leapt to their feet, cheering and applauding.

By the end of the match Dean was on pretty good terms with Gabe, Balthazar seemed like a bit of a dick sometimes, but they were both decent enough guys. He waited with the two of them for Cass to come out of the locker room.

Balthazar was reading a text over Gabriel’s shoulder.

“She’s calling you ‘Bear’ again?” he exclaimed, as Gabe stashed his phone away “Someone’s in the good books, did you go down on her?”

“Kate?” asked Dean, he’d met her briefly after he’d first met Cass and Gabe had mentioned her earlier, but she seemed way out of his league.

Gabe nodded, “You always go down on your girl.” He said, like it was a life lesson he’d been drilling into Balthazar as soon as he hit sixteen. “Or you at least offer”

“I’m not sure I wanna know what you’re talking about” said Cass, somehow materialising behind them. Instantly Gabriel swept him into a tight, brotherly hug, Cass opted for a one-armed clap on the back. Balthazar was pulling him into a hug next when Dean noticed that Cass looked a shaken, and a little pale, his brothers must have noticed before he did because he recognised their behaviour. It was the same was he’d treat Sammy when he knew he wasn’t going to get a word out of him, but he wouldn’t even try to ignore the instinct to protect and coddle him until he was happy again.

Balthazar slung an arm round Cass shoulders and congratulated him on a ‘frankly superb’ goal he’d scored, shortly followed by Gabe’s promise of pizza – his treat – and invited Dean to join them. He said yes of course, after checking for Cass’s confirming smile.

“Sorry Kate can’t be here,” Gabe continued “But she sends her love.”

“Is she alright?”

“They were just going at it a bit too rough, Kate can hardly walk straight let alone sit down” Balthazar joked, which earned him a smack round the back of the head from Gabriel.

“She’s not feeling too hot” Gabe corrected

“I bet she’s looking hot though” Balthazar ducked Gabe’s next swing, ducking round Dean with a grin.

Dean ignored the exchanges of threats between the two oldest Novak brothers and instead brushed his fingers over the back of Cass’s hand, it earned him a small smile before Dean reached and briefly clutched Cass’s hand firmly, under the guise of carrying his back for him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to upload, this chapter ended up being more Sam-centered than I intended it to be.

Dean watched Cass eat each individual topping from his Pizza, earning himself a sceptical gaze from Balthazar.

“So Dean” he asked, “What’re you studying?”

The question caught dean off guard, Cass must have mentioned that they met at the College.

“I’m – uh – not, I’m a maintenance man, and a mechanic on weekends”

“You’ve got two jobs?” asked Gabriel, tucking his phone away again.

“Yeah, the old man’s not really around, and I’ve gotta keep Sammy in school books.” He offered a half smile, but both the older Novak’s had stopped eating, giving Dean their undivided attention; not in a shock-horror kind of way, more of a ‘you’ve set off our bullshit detectors’ way. It pissed Dean off, but he supposed he’d think the same thing in their shoes.

Cass finally spoke up “Sam is Dean’s younger brother.” He gave his brothers some kind of warning look, but they didn’t let up.

“Which school does he go to?” asked Balthazar

“East Burton High”

“Which mechanics do you work at?”

“Singer’s Salvage Yard”

“But you’re not working today?”

“Everyone gets a day off now and then.”

Balthazar exchanged a look with Gabriel, a look that said ‘I believe him’.

Dean didn’t protest when Cass took a lift home with Gabriel instead of him – he had to get back to Sam.

*

Sam didn’t look up from the TV as Dean shut the front door, only responding with a non-committal noise to Dean’s ‘Hey Sammy’.

“You’re quiet” Dean noted, hanging up his jacket “What’s up?”

Sam was silent for a while, debating whether his big brother’s help would be worth admitting the problem “You know Jess from school?”

“Vaguely” Dean said, trying to recall her face.

“She keeps flirting with me.”

“Is she pretty?”

Sam thought about it “I guess so.” He sounded genuinely unsure.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Dean you know what the problem is!” Sam snapped, only taking his eyes off the TV for long enough to glare at Dean.

“Dude.” Dean was always out of his depth when Sam’s… persuasion came into the equation, but god dammit he tried “Just because you’re… like you are, doesn’t mean you have to like… dudes.”

“You can’t even say it!” Sam accused, shooting to his feet, neutral to furious in one second flat. “I’m beta, Dean. _Beta_.”

Dean stood too, raising his hands in an attempt to placate his brother. “Sammy, keep your voice down.”

“Why? Are you ashamed of me?!”

“Goddammit Sam! Of course not, all I’m trying to say is, you can date whoever you like! If you wanna ask her out then do it, but if you don’t and she doesn’t stop flirting then ask her to stop.”

“That’s not even the problem!” Sam yelled, and stormed upstairs. Leaving Dean stood in the middle of the living room, dumb-struck.

“Well fuck me…” he sighed, dropping onto the sofa.

*

Cass set down his pen and quickly switched the phone to his other ear as he listened to Dean telling him about Sam. He wasn’t too keen on taking an unscheduled break from revision, but he could hardly ask Dean to call back later.

“…I don’t know what to do.” He concluded. Cass thought for a moment, usually he was the one asking advice. “Cass?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m not sure what to say… I’m not used to giving advice.”

“Well, you’re… like Sam, have you ever had this problem?”

Cass hesitated for a different reason “Why can’t you say it?”

“What?”

“Beta. I’m a beta; Sam’s a beta, why can’t you say it?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’ll only push Sam away if you can’t accept it; you can’t even say it to me.” Dean was silent. Cass kind of hoped he was feeling bad about himself. “Say it.”

“I…”

“Say it Dean, what am I?”

“Cass…”

“Dean.” He’d not used this tone with anyone else before, not since Meg. He heard Dean’s breath catch over the phone.

“You’re… you’re a… beta.”

“And Sam?”

“Is a beta.”

“Who is?”

“Sam. Sam’s a beta”

Neither of them said anything else, he didn’t ask again why Dean couldn’t say it. He could probably guess why, Gabriel had a little bit of a problem with it in the beginning, mainly because he was trying to protect Cass from the reality of it.

“So does he like this girl?” he asked quietly, feeling kind of bad for telling Dean off like that.

“They’re friends but I don’t think he feels the same way.”

“He shouldn’t really string her along then, it wouldn’t be fair to her.”

“Sounds like you’re speaking from experience.” Dean ventured, subtly trying to find out more about him.

“I guess I am” Cass didn’t offer anything else, that story opened up a whole different issue.

*

Sam forced a smile when he saw Jess the next morning, as she grinned and bounced up to him happy as anything. He turned and opened is locker before she could throw her arms round his neck in a too-tight hug.

“Hi Sam” she said, leaning against the row of lockers, and twirling her hair delicately between her fingers, giving him a flirtatious smile that he pretended not to notice.

“Hey Jess” he replied, being as falsely obtuse as he could get away with.

“Summer break’s coming up” she prompted.

“I know,” he gave her a friendly smile and carried on down the corridor, she didn’t even loose pace.

“A couple of the guys were gonna go down to the lake after school on the last day”

“Oh cool”

“What about you, are you gonna go?”

“Dunno, I might, I’ll have to check with Dean, he won’t be too happy about picking me up from the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night” Dean probably wouldn’t be too irritated, as long as he wasn’t working the next day, he’d have to think up another excuse.

“Oh no it’s cool, Ash’s parents are out of town, and they’ve got a cabin by the lake.”

Shit.

By some God-given luck, the first lesson bell rang and Sam could shoot off with an explanation of ‘I’ve got Trig’. He heard Jess say ‘see you at lunch’ but he would probably hide in the library. Under the guise of doing homework he’d finished the night it was given.

As he retreated to his favoured secluded corner of the library, he was greeted by the sight of Kate McCarthy sat against a book shelf, eating a slice of chocolate cake out of a take-out container from the bakery round the corner. She froze for a moment when she saw him looking very guilty, before explaining “I’m supposed to be on a diet”

“You don’t need to diet” he pointed out, dropping down next to her.

“Damn right I don’t” she agreed “But some of the people I work with _do_ , so it’s an ‘all girls together’ kind of thing. If one of us is eating a salad and being miserable, we’re all eating salad and being miserable” Sam only responded with a small smile. “So what’s up with you?” she asked, not putting her cake down “Not like you to be studying inside on a ridiculously hot day”

Sam shrugged. He’d talked to Kate about some stuff before, but it was kinda weird now, with Cass and Dean being whatever they were. Apparently she had a similar train of thought.

“Come on, your brother and my boyfriend’s brother are going at it, we’re practically related now.”

“This girl keeps flirting with me…” he started, before trailing off

“You’re not interested?”

“No- not like that anyway, she’s a good friend”

“It’s all the more uncomfortable then?”

“It’s not uncomfortable… I like being close to her and touching her… but it’s confusing.”

Kate thought for a moment, or waited for him to carry on, he wasn’t sure.

*

Sam tried not to frown as he looked round the party. He wished Dean had understood that he didn’t want to go to this party when his friends had turned up on his doorstep without warning and asked. Of course Joe and Brady wouldn’t take no for an answer, dragging Sam out the door almost as soon as Dean had said ‘yeah sure, don’t get back late’ - which Sam knew to mean that he should text Dean: the address when he’d arrived, when he decided to leave, how he was getting home, when he was round the corner and call him if the police got involved. It sucked sometimes, but it could be allot worse.

                To Dean:  
                Here.  
                23 Greenway.  
                You Suck.

Admittedly the last part was unnecessary and he shouldn’t be blaming Dean for his own problems, but he’d just been so on-edge lately, he couldn’t help it. Hanging out with Cass helped calm him down, maybe he could ask Cass to help him study, or make up something else.

Ruby slid up to him, pressing herself subtly against his arm, and offering him a drink. He took the offered drink and let her non-too-subtly hit on him, innuendo in every sentence that didn’t do much for him. As Ruby continued talking, whispering something (probably inappropriate) in his ear that he wasn’t even listening to. He was only thankful Jess had decided not to come; she’d gone to her grandmother’s seventieth birthday party instead. Sam had checked with her via text on the way here, hoping there’d be someone who’d stick close to him and keep alcohol-fuelled girls off him. Ruby was nice enough sober, but he really wasn’t interested.

He wouldn’t deny he was a little bit curious about the group of older guys in the corner, playing poker, almost oblivious to the party around them. Through the crowd he could see a dark-haired guy and a blond guy; the blond guy looked bored with the proceedings, and his apparent winnings.

“Who’re they?” he asked Ruby, who instantly looked offended – he’d just made it obvious that he wasn’t listening to her. She tossed her hair and followed his gaze.

“Alfie’s older brother and his friends, or something like that; they’re like, supposed to be keeping an eye on things I suppose.” She said, before trying to draw Sam’s attention back to her. Then he unintentionally caught the blond-guy’s eye and quickly looked at the floor.

He didn’t remember Alfie saying he had an older brother, then again he didn’t really know Alfie all that well outside of math class and study groups, even though the study group was at _this house_ so he probably would have noticed or heard about an older brother. But Alfie really didn’t even seem like the kind of guy who would have a party.

Now he thought about it that seemed like a good idea, find Alfie. Sam gently slid out from under Ruby, muttering a half-assed excuse about the bathroom.

Dodging round people and ditching the drink Ruby had brought him, Sam made his way upstairs, and before he could find Alfie’s room he was cornered the a tall blond guy who’d been playing poker.

“Who let a gorgeous thing like you out on their own?” he asked, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of Sam’s eyes.

“Excuse me?!” Sam asked incredulously, as the guy leaned an arm against the wall above Sam’s head and with his other gently touched Sam’s arm and hand. If Sam ever decided to tell this story – which he wouldn’t – he’d say he resisted with all his might.

“Hot little beta like you shouldn’t be out on their own.”

Sam’s gut gave a violent clench. How the hell could he tell?!

“Shh, don’t worry about it” he soothed, “I’m the only one here who can tell, no one else here is fully developed yet.”

He’d heard something like that before, it was briefly mentioned in health class. Alpha’s weren’t ‘fully developed’ until around the age of twenty-two, and by then they could tell when a beta was in heat just by scent. Fuck, how old was this guy? And he wasn’t in heat! Maybe Ruby was and the scent had rubbed off on him.

“Don’t look so scared, I’m not gonna bite. I just caught your scent and saw you looking at me.” He said, tracing his index finger along Sam’s

“I-I wasn’t looking at you!” he whispered, keeping an eye out for anyone he knew walking past.

“Yeah of course you weren’t, you don’t want me to drag you into the nearest room and take you for mine” he teased, and flirted. If this guy really was a fully-developed Alpha then he could probably smell that Sam was now kind-of turned on. “Do you?” he asked, when Sam didn’t respond, or make any sound to speak of. When Sam realised that they guy was actually asking for consent, Sam tried to recall where the closet he’d mistakenly walked into was, later he’d hate himself for his willingness. The blond guy had enough intelligent thought for the both of them, taking Sam’s not-a-no as a yes and pulling them through the nearest door – which was in fact the closet.

Instantly the blond guy pulled Sam fully against him and without any hesitation or build-up at all, pulled him into a kiss that had Sam hot in seconds. As the blond guy’s tongue conned its way through Sam’s lips with gentle licks in the right places, his hands slid down to Sam’s ass, cupping it and pulling their hips together firmly. The older guy’s tongue flicked over the apparently over-sensitive roof of Sam’s mouth, making him give a small moan into the kiss.

Sam had of course kissed someone before, sure it was seven-minuets-in-heaven with Jess during a game of spin the bottle last year, but it counted.

Any indecision now gone from his mind, Sam ran his hands over the guy’s chest, before breaking away to press kisses into his neck. He made a small, contented humming noise in his throat, before picking Sam up and switching their positions, shoving Sam up against the wall.

“I’m not a girl” he reminded Sam, now between Sam’s legs and undoubtedly able to feel Sam’s growing erection against his stomach.

“I-I know, I just-“ Sam’s feet weren’t touching the floor and the only thing supporting him was the blond guy.

“Aww” he teased, pushing up Sam’s shirt and gently trailing his hands over now bare skin. “Only been with a girl before? Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.” He let Sam drop down to the floor again, before pushing his shirt all the way up over his chest, but not taking it off before pressing an open-mouthed kiss over his nipple.

Sam fisted a hand in his blond hair as the older guy kissed, licked and bit his way across Sam’s chest. The tight grip in his hair only seemed to spur him on, giving a deep growl. Sam used his grip to pull the guy in for another kiss, he didn’t complain, only dragged blunt nails over Sam’s bare back as he picked him up again, the dull pain made Sam shiver and moan into the kiss. He popped the buttons on the guy’s shirt, dragging his own nails across his chest and boldly twisting a nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

“Cheeky bitch” he growled, rolling and grinding their hips together. “I should put you in your place.” Sam wasn’t so inexperienced as to think the guy was genuinely angry, it was all talk, but the part of Sam that was in control didn’t want it to be.

“Do it then.” Sam said, point blank, daring the guy.

Just was Sam’s luck, the closet door opened, but only for a fraction of a second, because the blond guy slammed it shut again before giving a predatory grin, and flipping Sam so he was face-first to the wall, kicking his legs apart, and in spite of the jeans Sam felt exposed, and it sent a fresh flood of fire through his veins. He held Sam firmly by the waist and ground his hips against Sam’s ass.

A thrill went through Sam with each dry, clothed thrust; he wanted so badly to be fucked. He was so hot, he didn’t even care when he popped the button of his jeans, ready to jerk himself off in front of this guy, but then his hand was smacked away, a larger, stronger hand replacing his own, massaging his cock through his shorts. Sam let out a desperate moan.

“I should take you home, make you beg for my cock, fuck you into my mattress until you can’t take any more, fill you with my cum.”

Sam turned his head towards the filthy words, already on the verge of begging.

“I tell you what I will do” he continued, still rubbing his crotch against Sam’s ass – which was apparently doing allot more for Sam than it was for him – and firmly jerking Sam’s cock having pulled him free of his shorts.

He didn’t tell Sam anything however before turning him round and dropping to his knees. If the guy hadn’t done it first, Sam certainly would have. He took Sam into his mouth, and instantly Sam returned his tight grip to the guy’s hair.

Sam was already flushed red, and he certainly was after he came hard and fast into the guy’s mouth, embarrassed that he’d cum so quickly. The guy swallowed it all, and tucked Sam back into his shorts.

“I’ll give you my number” he said, rising to his feet, kissing Sam fully, who only recoiled a little at the sharp taste of himself. "Call me"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, Sam central, more Cass and Dean soon, I promise.

Cass knocked on the door again, Dean wasn’t in (the impala wasn’t in the driveway), but he only hoped Sam was. He’d left his bag at Dean’s yesterday, which really was a stupid thing to leave behind, but he’d gotten an emergency call of Balthazar to tell him their father was home early from work and Cass should probably get home before the old man noticed.

He crouched down and resorted to peeking through the letter box “Hello?” he called though “Is anyone in?”

“Cass?” asked a shaky voice from somewhere in the house.

“Sam? Are you alright? You sound ill.”

Bare feet stepped carefully down the stairs, and moments later Sam was within the small field of vision of the letter box. He was flushed and a little bit sweaty, the sweat probably wasn’t from the two sweaters he was wearing.

“Oh god… Sam, are you alright? Do you have something you can take?”

Sam shook his head, and didn’t offer explanation, just wiped his forehead on his sleeve, looking like he was going to burst into tears at any moment. At least he hadn’t lied, which meant Cass could do something to help.

“Can you let me in?”

Sam thought for a moment “There’s no one else out there with you?”

Cass assured him there wasn’t, and after another moment’s thought, Sam got up to unlock the door – chain, bolt and latch by the sound of it. Cass shut the door behind him, and held his arms out for Sam.

There was considerably less hesitation from Sam as he practically collapsed into Cass’s arms, sighing and shaking as Cass rubbed his back. “Come on” he said, “Let’s get you cleaned up”

*

Kate lay on the sun lounger, basking in the heat like a contented cat. Gabriel was at work, and as much as she loved him, she didn’t feel like being sexually harassed today, it was her day off, and she didn’t intend to move from this spot in her almost entirely shadow-free garden until the sun was obscured by the tree house in the tree at the end of the garden.

She wouldn’t answer any call that didn’t come directly to her mobile phone – which was lying on the grass next to her – and she wouldn’t eat anything until lunchtime, by which time she’d have to top up on sunscreen anyway.

Like some sun-hating demon had it out for her, her phone rang; she let it ring out for a while before answering it.

“Hello?” she drawled

“Kate? It’s Cass”

“Hi honey, what’s up?”

“Sam’s in heat and he hasn’t got anything”

Kate inwardly sighed, it wasn’t like she could just pop down to the shops either, suppressants had to be prescribed by a doctor. “Really only one thing for it then” she said, holding back a yawn, she really could have fallen asleep if he hadn’t called.

“Thanks” he said, before hanging up, she assumed he had another way to get here, because he didn’t ask for a lift, nor did he wait for her to offer.

*

Dean drummed nervously on the desk. He really shouldn’t have left Sam on his own, but he had to pick up more shifts at Bobby’s, he didn’t have a choice if he really wanted to help Sam.

In two months he would have been able to afford it, but Sam had gone early, really early.

*

Sam skipped round unnecessary details as he told Kate about the tall Blond Guy from last night, as she lay on her front, sunning her back and giving him her undivided attention. It was kind of nice, like talking to your mother or an older sister; he’d not realised it before, when they spoke in the library, because she was always working.

She watched him for a moment after he finished, watch him tear blades of grass out the ground and tie them together, just for the sake of having something to fiddle with. Cass was in the kitchen, making sandwiches on Kate’s hint that she was hungry. This gave Sam a chance to talk to someone about what happened, because even though he trusted Cass, if Dean found out he’d never be let out the house again, and it wasn’t like he could talk to Jess or Brady, even Joe would freak out a little.

“You didn’t tell him to stop at any point?” she asked

Sam shrugged “I kinda-didn’t want him to…” he muttered, feeling the shame of it now.

“I’m not going to judge you, Sam, but if you do meet up with him again you should really use protection.” She said, only lightly scolding.

“But I still don’t understand what that’s got to do with why I’ve gone so early, because before last night I felt like I usually do before heat. Like headaches and that”

“How long for?”

“A little over a week maybe.”

“Hmm” she mused, “I think… I know what’s happened. I’m not going to ask if you’ve been sleeping properly, because you wouldn’t have gone early if you had been. But I reckon the stress of exams has finally gotten to you.” She said, propping herself a little further up on her elbows, probably not forgetting she’d untied her bikini top, she probably just didn’t mind. “Being a beta really sucks when you’re going through things like this, because you’ve got all these crazy hormones flooding your brain because of the lack of sleep, and none of them know what to do or where to go, which puts you in kind of an extended pre-heat phase up until you actually go into it. But what’s happened to you is, I think, an extremely rare or at least unlikely situation.

“When your body is, shall we say, in distress in some way or there’s some kind of imbalance, it will constantly look for a way to right it, and sex is probably your way of reliving some of the stress.”

Sam was glad he was intelligent enough to keep up “Does that work?”

“It can, it does for me, sometimes, other times I just need to cuddle up to Gabe and fall asleep for a few hours.” She said, dropping back down to rest her chin on her forearms. “Although I don’t recommend or condone sex with strangers” she added

“Thanks” he half-smiled

“Any time” she smiled back, although she looked ready to fall asleep.

Cass dropped down next to them, having changed into a different set of clothes (a pair of cargo shorts that didn’t look like something he’d own, and he’d forsaken his shirt all together).

*

“Sam, I don’t want you to getting sunstroke.” Prompted Kate, after watching him struggle in the midday heat for longer than she’d like to “You can take your shirt off if you like” she’d flipped onto her back letting her head hang off the end of the lounger, so she was looking at them both upside down.

“No– I– Uh… I’m fine.” Sam looked at the ground again. He couldn’t take his shirt off; there were bruises on his waist and marks all over his chest, courtesy of the Tall Blond Guy. He knew he was blushing furiously, and he knew they were smirking at him, trying not to laugh. “Shut up!” he accused, making Kate laugh, reaching out to ruffle his hair with an ‘aww’.

“We didn’t say anything” Cass reminded him “But seriously, it’s too hot for long sleeves, even if you are wearing shorts.”

Sam reluctantly shrugged off his shirt, giving into the peer pressure. Cass and Kate glanced over the marks.

“I’ve had worse” shrugged Kate “Try covering up a big ass mark in the middle of your neck for half a month” With that she pulled back her hair to reveal the pale yellow-y-purple remains of said mark. “Not that I’m complaining though eh” she winked at him, like it was a private joke. Cass rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Do I have to remind you that Gabriel is my _brother?_ ”

“What?” she asked defensively “We’re both consenting adults, it’s perfectly natural for us to indulge our sexual desires with one another.”

Cass stubbornly covered up his ears “I’m not listening” he declared plainly, lying back in the grass.

“Even the really _sticky_ , _messy_ ones” she grinned, only talking for the sake of winding Cass up. “We usually have to throw out the bed sheets”

Sam was laughing, both at Kate’s continuing description and the look on Cass’s face as he was probably plagued with images.

“What’s going on?” asked someone else; Sam looked round to see a shorter guy with light brown hair tied back in a ponytail. He was frowning in confusion at Cass, who’d stood up and was in the middle of walking inside.

“Kate’s being unnecessarily descriptive” he said; surprisingly calm, but still not able to look this guy in the eye.

“Oh come on Cassey, where are you going?” called Kate,

“I’ll come back when you decide to act like an adult” he said, and with that he disappeared inside somewhere.

The man was chuckling as he walked up to Kate, then bent down to give her a kiss. Clearly he’d intended a quick peck on the lips, but Kate looped a hand round the back of his head, giving what Sam could imagine she’d call a ‘proper kiss’, causing the man to topple slightly in his awkward bent over position.

“Gabe, this is Sam, Dean’s brother.” Kate said when Gabriel perched on the lounger next to her, hand resting on her stomach with his thumb rubbing soft circles like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Gabriel reached out to shake his hand, but quickly thought better of it, and retracted his hand. “Best not kiddo,” he said “But it’s good to meet you”

“Sam, Gabriel, my…” she hesitated, not sure how to introduce him

“-mate” Gabriel concluded confidentially, as Kate looked up at him, mouth slightly agape, not sure what to make of him. She settled for holding the hand he had on her stomach.

“What are you doing home early?” she asked, easily breaking through the intimate situation that – although he felt a little heart-warmed watching it – was making Sam uncomfortable.

“Air Con’s out at work, means the refrigeration’s useless, everything’s just melting, had chuck out a load of the stock, too melted to sell.”

“Aww, babe.” She said, reaching up to touch his cheek gently.

“Yeah, brought some of it home though, felt wrong throwing it all out”

“Where do you work?” asked Sam, less uncomfortable now, watching how content Kate and Gabriel were being close and comfortable with each other made him feel happy and warm inside.

“You know the chocolatiers on main?”

“You work there? Don’t they sell, like, the best chocolates in the world?” he asked, it wasn’t really expensive in there, but he knew Dean struggled sometimes, so he tended to stick to cheaper bars of chocolate.

Gabriel grinned “Hells yeah we do, you can take some home with you if you like”

“Yeah!” Sam exclaimed before he had time to think up a more mature, grownup sounding answer, and instantly flushed red. “I mean, uh, sure, if you’ve got some spare, that’d be great thanks”

“You’re adorable” Kate teased, making Sam pout, before looking back to Gabriel “And seeing as you’re home, do you fancy cooking? I’m starving.”

“Sure” Gabriel kissed her hand, before pushing himself up and going back inside.

When he was gone, Kate could finally comment on Sam’s slightly euphoric smile “What’s with you?”

“You and Gabriel, you’re perfect”

It was Kate’s turn to blush, not sure how to respond as she turned onto her front. “You’re staying for food,” it was an order, not a question “And you’re welcome to come round tomorrow.”

“If I need to?” he suspected he wouldn’t be invited if it wasn’t an emergency situation like today.

Kate shrugged “Or not, for whatever reason really, if you just wanna hang out, or if you wanna chat, but I do insist you come round for every day this lasts, especially you’ve not got anything to take.”

Sam smiled, Cas was right when he said Kate was the loveliest woman you’d ever meet.

*

When Dean stopped by home during his break to find no Sam, he nearly had a coronary, until he found Sam’s note on the kitchen table:

                _Dean, calm down, I’m with Cass. Sam._

He sighed in relief and instantly fished out his phone to call. Cass must have dropped round to pick up his bag, Dean was never so happy he’d been running late and hadn’t had time to drop it off.

*

Sam fiddled with his phone.

Dean had picked him up from Kate and Gabriel’s in the evening after work. Kate point-blank insisting to Dean that Sam came round tomorrow, Dean had been pretty much helpless to say no, Kate was still in her bikini and freshly sun-kissed. They’d left with left-over casserole for dinner and half the chocolates Gabriel had brought home from work.

After the day with Cass and Kate, he felt considerably cooler than he’d expect when falling asleep, but he’d woken up only an hour and a bit later, flushed and sweating, memories of the previous night fresh on his mind.

Hesitantly, he hit send on the text he typed ten minutes ago.

                ****To Blondie:  
                                hey, it’s sam  
                                from yesterday

It didn’t take very long at all for him to text back.

                ****From Blondie:  
                                Well, didn’t expect to   
                                hear back so soon.  
                                Just courtesy,  
                                or do you need me?

                ****To Blondie:  
                                the latter,  
                                can we meet?

From Blondie:  
                                Eager aren’t we?  
                                Where do you live?

To Blondie:  
                                not far from main,  
                                can’t come here tho.

From Blondie:  
                                Of course not.  
                                Red Ace motel,  
                                5th and main.


End file.
